Systems and methods for overpinging synthetic aperture sonar transmitters

ABSTRACT

The systems and methods described herein relate to systems and methods for synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) or radar including overpinging with multiple SAS transmitters.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/483,549, filed May 6, 2011 and entitled“Systems and Methods for Synthetic Aperture Sonar,” the entire contentsof each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods relatingto synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) technology. More particularly, invarious embodiments, the present disclosure relates to systems andmethods for synthetic aperture sonar or radar including overpinging withmultiple transmitters.

BACKGROUND

In most land-based applications, navigation is often aided by in-placeinfrastructure such as GPS, radio beacons or a priori maps. Navigationand mapping underwater is difficult because among other things,wide-coverage underwater GP-equivalents do not exist and large portionsof the sea bed are still unexplored.

Current techniques for underwater navigation use publicly availablebathymetry maps. However, these maps are relatively coarse andunsuitable for precision navigation. Other sonar-based navigationsystems rely on positioning schemes that use the sonar data itself. Forexample, on-the-fly acoustic feature-based systems attempt to use sonarto detect naturally occurring landmarks. Other solutions to thenavigation problem include deploying low-cost transponders in unknownlocations thereby enabling range-based measurements between the vehicleand transponder beacon. However, these transponders are often deployedat locations that are at great distances from each other, and often onlypartially observable because of the range-only information. Thus, thesetechnologies are unsuitable for navigation across small vehicle paths.

Recent technologies permit navigation of underwater terrain relative toa prior map of the terrain. Such technologies use synthetic aperturesonar systems for generating images of the terrain, which are thencompared against a prior image associated with the terrain. Underwatervehicles may then be able to navigate on the terrain relative to theirlocation on the map. These technologies, however, suffer from aplurality of deficiencies including the amount of power consumed, sizeand shape of the systems. Additionally, the performance of suchnavigation systems dramatically decreases as transmitter frequenciesincrease and wavelengths decrease.

Accordingly, there is a need for improved map-based navigation systems,particularly for underwater applications.

SUMMARY

The devices, systems and methods of the inventions described hereinaddress these and other deficiencies of existing navigation systems. Bygenerating the sonar signals and designing the synthetic aperture sonararray using the systems and methods described below, significantimprovements may be achieved, at least in image generation andnavigation capability.

As noted above, it may be desirable to be able to navigate terrain(whether on land or underwater) in a vehicle equipped appropriately withsensors that allow the vehicle to navigate the terrain relative to aprior map of the terrain. There exists several sonar-based imaging andmapping technologies, including, among others, sidescan sonar andsynthetic aperture sonar (SAS). In these technologies, the quality ofthe map or image is related to its angular resolution. The angularresolution, which is the minimum angle for which two targets can beseparated in a sonar image, is proportional to the array length measuredin wavelengths. Longer arrays or higher frequencies (smallerwavelengths) gives better angular frequencies. Sidescan sonar uses afixed-length moving array of receivers to cover different parts of theseafloor. Typical sidescan sonars produce one or a few beams, and animage is produced by moving the sonar and using repeated pulses. Becauselonger arrays typically require more electronics, hardware and space onthe vehicle, sidescan sonar systems include small arrays that operate athigh frequencies (typically, although not always, greater than 100 kHz).However, frequency dependent absorption of sound in the oceans placeslimits on the range of high frequency sidescan sonars.

Synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) imaging systems were successful inovercoming some of the deficiencies of side-scan sonar systems. SAStechnology uses the forward motion of a small physical array tosynthesize a much longer array, thus resulting in a much fineralong-track resolution and higher signal to noise ratios (SNR) than thatof an actual physical array. Thus, SAS allows for much higherresolutions at lower frequencies than sidescan sonar systems. In fact,to provide for higher ranges than sidescan sonar, most current day SAStechnologies operate at low frequencies (less than 100 kHz). In additionto the increased range, low frequencies allow for higher relativebandwidths

Both sidescan and SAS technologies have been used for map-basednavigation systems. Sidescan sonar images have been incoherentlyprocessed using template matching and spatial constraints to providenavigational information and recognize mine-like objects. Recently, theholographic nature of a low-frequency SAS image, namely, the observationthat low-frequency SAS images capture the same target from differentvantage points, has been leveraged for coherent terrain recognition andnavigation. Thus, low frequency SAS is generally better suited formap-based navigation than high-frequency sidescan sonar.

Nevertheless, there are several disadvantages of low frequency SAS.Lower frequencies demand longer apertures, which in the case of movingSAS platforms could introduce errors and angular variations.Furthermore, low-frequency systems require larger electronics and morepower, luxuries that may not be available on smaller autonomousunderwater vehicles (AUVs) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Likewise,low frequency projectors are often heavier than their high frequencyequivalents, preventing their use on small lightweight systems.

Current map-based navigation technologies discourage the use ofhigh-frequency SAS (greater than about 100 kHz) for navigation becauseof increased attenuation and poor performance, which in turn was thoughtto be attributable to the effects of shadowing, occlusion and complex 3Drelief changes in relief. These effects were thought to change thesignature of the sound signal, and accordingly break down the assumptionthat a change in vertical aspect maps to a change in pitch.

However, the Applicants have recently recognized that that thisassumption is not entirely correct and traditional holographicnavigation techniques may fail at higher frequencies due to spatiallyvarying phase errors (e.g., range varying phase errors.) Applicants havealso recognized that traditional holographic navigation techniques mayfail at lower frequencies due to these types of errors that occur indifficult ocean conditions such as rough seas or spatially varying soundspeeds. The systems and methods described herein overcome thelimitations described above and provide for high-frequency (about 100kHz and greater) sonar imaging and coherent terrain recognition andnavigation. The systems and methods described herein also provide forlow frequency (less than about 100 kHz) sonar imaging and coherentterrain recognition and navigation.

In particular, the systems and methods described herein includetechniques for coherently correlating a real aperture sonar image or aSAS image, with a prior SAS map having at least partially overlappingfrequencies. The systems and methods also include techniques forcoherently correlating a SAS image with a prior real aperture map havingat least partially overlapping frequencies. Generally, these techniquescompensate for difference in vertical aspect between the image and theprior map, and thereby allow for coherent correlation. Moreover, thesetechniques correct for range varying phase errors and can thereforeallow operation at much higher frequencies. These systems and methodsmay be used for terrain recognition, navigation, and positionestimation. Furthermore, given the ability of the systems and methodsdescribed herein to locate a position on a map with high-precision,beacons and sensors may be placed carefully to avoid obstacles such asrocks or scientific instruments may be placed precisely on the seafloor.

The systems and methods described herein also include, in variousaspects, the use of orthogonal signals for SAS, overpinging withmultiple transmitters, and holographic simultaneous localization andmapping (SLAM).

In certain aspects, the systems and methods described herein includemethods for generating a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) signal. Themethods may include moving a sonar array at a first velocity, the sonararray having at least three transmitters and a plurality of receivers,the array having a first length, wherein the first transmitter ispositioned at a first fraction of the length along the first length, thesecond transmitter is positioned at a second fraction of the lengthalong the first length, and the third transmitter is positioned at athird fraction of the length along the first length, and wherein thedirection of motion is along a direction from the third transmittertowards the first transmitter. The methods may further includegenerating a first ping using the first and second transmitter,generating a second ping using the first and the third transmitter, andgenerating a third ping using the second and the third transmitter. Incertain embodiments, the time taken for the sonar array to move betweenthe first and second ping, and between the second and third ping, andbetween the third and first ping is equal to half the first lengthdivided by the first velocity. In certain embodiments, the plurality oftransmitters includes four or more transmitters.

In certain embodiments, generating the first ping includes generatingusing the first transmitter, a first acoustic signal at a firstposition, the first position being a whole number multiple of the firstlength added to the first fraction, and generating using the secondtransmitter, a second acoustic signal at a second position, wherein thesecond position being a whole number multiple of the first length addedto the second fraction. In certain embodiments, generating the secondping includes generating using the first transmitter, a third acousticsignal at a third position, the third position being a whole numbermultiple of the first length added to the first fraction, and generatingusing the third transmitter, a fourth acoustic signal at a fourthposition, wherein the fourth position being a whole number multiple ofthe first length added to the third fraction. In certain embodiments,generating the third ping includes generating using the secondtransmitter, a fifth acoustic signal at a fifth position, wherein thefifth position being a whole number multiple of the first length addedto the second fraction, and generating using the third transmitter, asixth acoustic signal at a sixth position, wherein the sixth positionbeing a whole number multiple of the first length added to the thirdfraction.

At least one of the first, second and third ping may have a frequency ina range from about 1 kHz to about 100 kHz. In certain embodiments, atleast one of the first, second and third ping has a frequency in a rangegreater than about 100 kHz. Generally, the sonar array may be disposedon at least one of an underwater vehicle or a surface vehicle forimaging an underwater terrain. The sonar array may also be disposed onat least one of an aerial vehicle or a terrestrial vehicle for imaging aterrestrial terrain.

They systems and methods described herein may be adapted as desired forboth sonar and radar systems, and accordingly for both syntheticaperture sonar (SAS) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Forexample, sonar transducers may be replaced with suitable radartransducers, and one or more components may be modified, added to orremoved from the systems described herein to operate in a sonar andradar regime. In some embodiments, the systems and methods may beconfigured to operate as both sonar and radar devices, without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In certain embodiments, whenthe systems and methods are configured for sonar imaging, thefrequencies may be in both high and low frequency ranges in the rangefrom 10 kHz to about 200 kHz. In certain embodiments, when the systemsand methods are configured for radar imaging, the frequencies may be inthe range from 100 MHz to about 30 GHz. Generally, the systems andmethods described herein may be applied for any frequency range, withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features, advantages, and illustrativeembodiments of the invention will now be described with reference todrawings in which like reference designations refer to the same partsthroughout the different views. These drawings are not necessarily toscale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles of theembodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a sonar mapping and navigationsystem, according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementingat least a portion of the systems and methods described in the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts a transducer array in a sonar system, according to anillustrative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts a transducer array in a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS)system, according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 5A-5B depict a process for navigating a terrain using an exemplaryhigh-frequency sonar navigation system, according to an illustrativeembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 6A-6B depicts a process for navigating a terrain using anexemplary high-frequency sonar navigation system, according to anotherillustrative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 depicts a process for correcting range varying phase errors in ahigh-frequency sonar system, according to an illustrative embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 8 depicts a process for using a plurality of orthogonal signals ina synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) system to generate images, according toan illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 9A and 9B depict a transducer array used in connection with anembodiment of the process depicted in FIG. 8, according to anillustrative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 depicts a process for transmitting pulses from a syntheticaperture sonar (SAS) system having multiple transmitters, according toan illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11A-C depict a transducer array used in connection with anembodiment of the process depicted in FIG. 10, according to anillustrative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 depicts a process for simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM) using real aperture sonar images, according to an illustrativeembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 13A and 13B depicts a device for pressure and substancecompensation, according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To provide an overall understanding of the systems and methods describedherein, certain illustrative embodiments will now be described,including systems and methods for mapping and navigating a terrain.However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art thatthe systems and methods described herein may be adapted and modified forother suitable applications and that such other additions andmodifications will not depart from the scope thereof.

The systems and methods described herein include high-frequency (“HF”)holographic navigation, namely map-based navigation using themulti-aspect holographic-nature of synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) imagescaptured at frequencies greater than or equal to about 100 kHz. Thesystems and methods described herein also include low frequency (“LF”)holographic navigation at frequencies less than about 100 kHz. Inparticular, the systems and methods described herein allow for coherentcorrelation between images, currently captured, and prior maps whenthere is an overlap in frequency and aspect. Such coherent correlationallows for position and/or heading-based navigation. At high-frequency,the inventor has recognized that images suffer from spatially varyingphase errors (e.g., range varying phase errors), which cause imageand/or correlation distortion. Such phase errors may exist even at lowfrequencies when there are altitude variations. In certain embodiments,when the phase errors are much smaller than the bandwidth, althoughimages may not be distorted, correlation (and therefore navigation) maybecome difficult. The systems and methods described herein overcome thedeficiencies of the prior art by introducing a phase error correctorconfigured to cut the image into smaller regions where phase isrelatively constant and use these phase measurements to correct portionsof the image.

The systems and methods described here make use of various other aspectsof the holographic nature of synthetic aperture images, which theinventor has recognized. For example, systems and methods are describedherein for determining a three-dimensional model of a shape based on itstwo dimensional shading and shadowing of acoustic signals. The systemsand methods described herein include methods for positioning sensors(such as Tsunami sensors) and navigation beacons with high-precisionusing HF holographic navigation. The systems and methods describedherein include methods for monitoring and modeling a water column usingan autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) based on high-precision locationmeasurements obtained using HF holographic navigation. In certainembodiments, the systems and methods include a seismic survey systemhaving a combination of orthogonal transmitters and multiple receiversto form a full planar synthetic aperture sonar with higher resolution.

In other aspects, the systems and methods described herein includeadding multiple transmitters to the array and generating orthogonalpinging sequences. In particular, the systems and methods describedherein include a SAS having a low-grating sidelobe, a SAS having a highcoverage rate using multiple transmitters, and an overpinging sequencefor increasing the range of the SAS system. The systems and methodsdescribed herein further include bistatic and monostatic holographicgapfilling techniques for localizing an emitter or receiver with highprecision relative to a terrain. In still other aspects, the systems andmethods described herein include simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM) techniques that involve beamforming a real aperture image suchthat it can be coherently correlated with a prior real aperture image ofoverlapping frequencies. Each of these and other systems and methodsdescribed herein may be used independently of each other or in anysuitable combination of one or more any other system and method.Modifications and variations described with reference to a system andmethod described herein may be applied to any other system and methoddescribed herein, without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

In the following passages, an illustrative mapping and navigation systemand an illustrative computer system for executing holographic navigationand mapping is described with reference to FIG. 1-4, respectively.Further illustrative embodiments of components and processes of theholographic navigation and mapping system include processes fornavigating a terrain, for example an underwater terrain, using a map aredescribed with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. To allow for high-frequencyholographic navigation, FIG. 7 describes a process for correcting rangevarying phase errors, recognized by the inventor to be a reason for thefailure of traditional holographic navigation, coherent correlation, andchange detection systems at higher frequencies. FIGS. 8-9B depict aprocess and components for generating SAS images having low gratingsidelobes, and FIG. 10-11B depict a process and components forgenerating a high-coverage rate SAS signals. Finally, FIG. 12 describesa holographic SLAM process for navigating a terrain.

More particularly, FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a sonar mappingand navigation system 100, according to an illustrative embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The system 100 includes a sonar unit 110 forsending and receiving sonar signals, a preprocessor 120 for conditioninga received (or reflected) signal, and a matched filter 130 forperforming pulse compression and beamforming. The system 100 isconfigured to allow for navigating using high-frequency (greater thanabout 100 kHz) sonar signals. To allow for such HF navigation, thesystem 100 includes a signal corrector 140 for compensating for grazingangle error and for correcting phase error. The system 100 also includesa signal detector 150 for coherently correlating a received image with amap. In certain embodiments, the system may be mounted on vehiclenavigating over a terrain, such as an autonomous underwater vehicle(AUV) or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In such embodiments, thesystem 100 includes an on-board navigation controller 170, motorcontroller 180 and sensor controller 190. The navigation controller 170may be configured to receive navigational parameters from a GPS/RF link172 (when available), an accelerometer 174, a gyroscope, and a compass176. The motor controller 180 may be configured to control a pluralityof motors 182, 184 and 186 for steering the vehicle. The sensorcontroller 190 may receive measurements from the battery monitor 172, atemperature sensor 194 and a pressure sensor 196. The system 100 furtherincludes a central control unit (CCU) 160 that may serve as a hub fordetermining navigational parameters based on sonar measurements andother navigational and sensor parameters, and for controlling themovement of the vehicle.

In the context of a surface or underwater vehicle, the CCU 160 maydetermine navigational parameters such as position (latitude andlongitude), velocity (in any direction), bearing, heading, accelerationand altitude. The CCU 160 may use these navigational parameters forcontrolling motion along the alongtrack direction (fore and aft),acrosstrack direction (port and starboard), and vertical direction (upand down). The CCU 160 may use these navigational parameters forcontrolling motion to yaw, pitch, roll or otherwise rotate the vehicle.During underwater operation, a vehicle such as an AUV may receivehigh-frequency real aperture sonar images or signals at sonar unit 110,which may then be processed, filtered, corrected, and correlated againsta synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) map of the terrain. Using thecorrelation, the CCU may then determine the AUV's position, withhigh-precision and other navigational parameters to assist withnavigating the terrain. The precision may be determined by the signaland spatial bandwidth of the SAS map and/or the acquired sonar image. Incertain embodiments, assuming there is at least a near perfect overlapof the sonar image with a prior SAS map with square pixels, and assumingthat the reacquisition was performed with a single channel having asimilar element size and bandwidth, and assuming little or no losses tograzing angle compensation, the envelope would be about one-half theelement size. Consequently, in certain embodiments, the peak of theenvelope may be identified with high-precision, including down to theorder of about 1/100^(th) of the wavelength. For example, the resolutionmay be less than 2.5 cm, or less than 1 cm or less than and about 0.1 mmin the range direction.

Generally, terrain recognition using long wavelength (low-frequency)sensors may be difficult due to the aspect dependence of objectsignatures. Sonar or radar images may be dominated by speckle thatchange with both sonar and object aspect, making incoherent imagecorrelation extremely difficult. Coherently, any correlation operationinvolving signals with non-overlapping frequency bands will yield ananswer of zero (since correlation is multiplication in the frequencydomain). For two sonar images to correlate it is not enough that theirspatial frequencies overlap, but the same points in the two images mustbe represented at overlapping frequencies. For a generic real aperturesonar, the same signature for a complex scene can only typically bere-observed by revisiting the original observation position andorientation and using the same frequencies. Consequently, in general,getting two complex sonar or radar images to coherently correlate is ameasure zero occurrence; the expected cross correlation can be proven tobe approaching zero. Therefore, coherently navigating relative toterrain is, in general, impossible if the system compares real apertureimagery to prior real aperture imagery, except as described below withreference to FIG. 12. Incoherent navigation is possible (i.e. using onlythe envelope) if there is distinct terrain, but against a uniform bottom(mud flat, field of gravel, ocean floor, etc.) this is usually not so.

Holographic navigation of a terrain, e.g., using a system implemented onAUVs, solves this problem by replacing at least one of the real apertureimages with a synthetic aperture image. Because a synthetic apertureimage is a type of hologram (or quasi-hologram) it contains all possiblereal aperture images over some range of frequencies and angles.Consequently, it may be possible to correlate a real aperture imageagainst the synthetic aperture image and have a non-zero expected crosscorrelation. However, according to the Closed/Open Aperture theorem, itmay be required that the synthetic aperture be a planar syntheticaperture, meaning that it is fully populated and Nyquist sampled in twodimensions. This type of population and sampling frequency is, ingeneral, impractical.

By assuming the terrain is a manifold with embedded scatterers on thesurface, and avoiding sub-bottom profiles/operating above the criticalangle, or operating below the critical angle where the SNR is low, it ispossible to show that the planar aperture can be replaced with a contouraperture provided the frequencies can rescaled. For example, consider anactive sonar or radar and two scatterers spaced 5 centimeters apart inrange on a flat bottom. From the perspective of a sonar or radar lookingat the scatterers from the ground, the distance of travel for the twoechoes differ by 10 cm (out and back). If the observer is, instead,looking down at an angle of 45 degrees above horizontal, the differenceis shorted by cosine of 45 degrees (half) to 7.07 cm. So at horizontal a10 cm wavelength would be exactly one cycle out of phase (constructivelyinterferes), and a 20 centimeter wavelength would be exactly a halfcycle out of phase (destructively interfere). At 45 degrees, the samewould be true of a 7.07 cm wavelength and a 14.14 cm wavelength. Bothwavelengths are scaled by the same amount (and, similarly, so arefrequencies, except inversely). More generally, a change in verticalangle shifts all frequencies and changes the signal length by the cosineof the angle. This is not a shift in frequency so much as a change inpitch, where a doubling in frequency corresponds to a change in pitch ofone octave. So by changing the observation angle from horizontal tolooking down at 60 degrees the expected return is shorted by half andincreases in pitch by one octave. In order for this to work, it isnecessary for the second observation to be made with appropriatelyscaled frequencies relative to the first; for a very narrowband systemtoo much of a change in grazing angle simply leads to the knownsignatures being out of band.

In some embodiments, using grazing angle compensation and a priorsynthetic aperture image of the systems and methods described herein, itis possible to navigate relative to terrain using a single element sonaror radar. Although synthetic aperture systems are extremely expensive,single element systems are generally very cheap. This means a veryexpensive mapping system can enable the widespread use of cheapautonomous systems with minimal inertial navigation. However, successfulholographic navigation implementations to date have all used lowfrequency sonars (i.e. under 50 kHz), while the higher frequency systemshave not worked. This is unfortunate, because lower frequencytransmitters are, in general, larger, higher power, and more expensive.Thus, it is desirable to have a high frequency single elementholographic navigation system. Further illustrative embodiments ofholographic navigation systems and methods are disclosed in U.S. patentapplication Ser. Nos. 12/802,453, 12/454,486, 12/454,484, and12/454,885, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

In one aspect, the invention relates to a method of terrain relativelocalization via holographic navigation. Holographic navigation andholographic maps are further described in U.S. patent application Ser.Nos. 12/798,169 and 12/802,455, the contents of each of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety. In some respects,holographic navigation is a method of terrain relative localization thattakes advantage of the holographic properties of sonar and radar images.Quite often such terrain relative localization is performed by a systemimplemented on an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). However, theperformance of holographic navigation algorithms implemented on suchsystems may degrade substantially as frequencies increase andwavelengths decrease. Conventionally, it is generally assumed that suchdegradation is because the some of the assumptions of grazing anglecompensation break down. In other words, it is assumed that a change invertical aspect no longer maps to a pure change in pitch becauseshadowing, occlusion, and complex three dimension relief fundamentallychange the signature. However, the inventor has recently recognized thatthis assumption is not entirely incorrect, and that holographicnavigation may fail at higher frequencies due to spatially varying phaseerrors. In some embodiments, the invention corrects for those rangevarying phase errors by allowing for holographic navigation at higherfrequencies with lower power consumption and smaller sized hardware.

As noted above, the system 100 includes a sonar unit 110 fortransmitting and receiving acoustic signals. The sonar unit includes atransducer array 112 having a one or more transmitting elements orprojectors and a plurality of receiving elements arranged in a row. Incertain embodiments the transducer array 112 includes separateprojectors and receivers. The transducer array 112 may be configured tooperate in SAS mode (either stripmap or spotlight mode) or in a realaperture mode. In certain embodiments, the transducer array 112 isconfigured to operate as a multibeam echo sounder, sidescan sonar orsectorscan sonar. One example of a transducer array is shown in FIG. 3having one transmitting elements and six receiving elements. Thetransmitting elements and receiving elements may be sized and shaped asdesired and may be arranged in any configuration, and with any spacingas desired without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.As described later in the present disclosure the number, size,arrangement and operation of the transducer array 112 may be selectedand controlled to insonify terrain and generate high-resolution imagesof a terrain or object. One example of an array 112 includes a 16channel array with 5 cm elements mounted in a 12¾ inch vehicle.

The sonar unit 110 further includes a receiver 114 for receiving andprocessing electrical signals received from the transducer, and atransmitter 116 for sending electrical signals to the transducer. Thesonar unit 110 further includes a transmitter controller 118 forcontrolling the operation of the transmitter including the start andstop, and the frequency of a ping.

The signals received by the receiver 114 are sent to a preprocessor forconditioning and compensation. Specifically, the preprocessor 120includes a filter conditioner 122 for eliminating outlier values and forestimating and compensating for hydrophone variations. The preprocessorfurther includes a Doppler compensator 124 for estimating andcompensating for the motion of the vehicle. The preprocessed signals aresent to a matched filter 130.

The matched filter 130 includes a pulse compressor 132 for performingmatched filtering in range, and a beamformer 134 for performing matchedfiltering in azimuth and thereby perform direction estimation.

The signal corrector 140 includes a grazing angle compensator 142 foradjusting sonar images to compensate for differences in grazing angle.Typically, if a sonar images a collection of point scatterers the imagevaries with observation angle. For example, a SAS system operating at afixed altitude and heading observing a sea floor path will producedifferent images at different ranges. Similarly, SAS images made at afixed horizontal range would change if altitude were varied. In suchcases, changes in the image would be due to changes in the grazingangle. The grazing angle compensator 142 is configured to generategrazing angle invariant images. One such grazing angle compensator isdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/802,454 titled“Apparatus and Method for Grazing Angle Independent Signal Detection,”the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

The signal corrector 140 includes a phase error corrector 144 forcorrecting range varying phase errors. The phase error corrector 144 maycorrect for phase error using a technique described with reference toFIG. 7. Generally, the phase error corrector 144 breaks the image upinto smaller pieces, each piece having a substantially constant phaseerror. Then, the phase error may be estimated and corrected for each ofthe smaller pieces.

The system 100 further includes a signal detector 150 having a signalcorrelator 152 and a storage 154. The signal detector 150 may beconfigured to detect potential targets, estimate the position andvelocity of a detected object and perform target or pattern recognition.In one embodiment, the storage 154 may include a map store, which maycontain one or more previously obtained SAS images real aperture imagesor any other suitable sonar image. The signal correlator 152 may beconfigured to compare the received and processed image obtained from thesignal corrector 140 with one or more prior images from the map store154.

The system 100 may include other components, not illustrated, withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, thesystem 100 may include a data logging and storage engine. In certainembodiments the data logging and storage engine may be used to storescientific data which may then be used in post-processing for assistingwith navigation. The system 100 may include a security engine forcontrolling access to and for authorizing the use of one or morefeatures of system 100. The security engine may be configured withsuitable encryption protocols and/or security keys and/or dongles forcontrolling access. For example, the security engine may be used toprotect one or more maps stored in the map store 154. Access to one ormore maps in the map store 154 may be limited to certain individuals orentities having appropriate licenses, authorizations or clearances.Security engine may selectively allow these individuals or entitiesaccess to one or more maps once it has confirmed that these individualsor entities are authorized. The security engine may be configured tocontrol access to other components of system 100 including, but notlimited to, navigation controller 170, motor controller 180, sensorcontroller 190, transmitter controller 118, and CCU 160.

Generally, with the exception of the transducer 112, the variouscomponents of system 100 may be implemented in a computer system, suchas computer system 200 of FIG. 2. More particularly, FIG. 2 is afunctional block diagram of a general purpose computer accessing anetwork according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The holographic navigation systems and methods described inthis application may be implemented using the system 200 of FIG. 2.

The exemplary system 200 includes a processor 202, a memory 208, and aninterconnect bus 218. The processor 202 may include a singlemicroprocessor or a plurality of microprocessors for configuringcomputer system 200 as a multi-processor system. The memory 208illustratively includes a main memory and a read-only memory. The system200 also includes the mass storage device 210 having, for example,various disk drives, tape drives, etc. The main memory 208 also includesdynamic random access memory (DRAM) and high-speed cache memory. Inoperation and use, the main memory 208 stores at least portions ofinstructions for execution by the processor 202 when processing data(e.g., model of the terrain) stored in main memory 208.

In some embodiments, the system 200 may also include one or moreinput/output interfaces for communications, shown by way of example, asinterface 212 for data communications via the network 216. The datainterface 212 may be a modem, an Ethernet card or any other suitabledata communications device. The data interface 212 may provide arelatively high-speed link to a network 216, such as an intranet,internet, or the Internet, either directly or through another externalinterface. The communication link to the network 216 may be, forexample, any suitable link such as an optical, wired, or wireless (e.g.,via satellite or 802.11 Wi-Fi or cellular network) link. In someembodiments, communications may occur over an acoustic modem. Forinstance, for AUVs, communications may occur over such a modem.Alternatively, the system 200 may include a mainframe or other type ofhost computer system capable of web-based communications via the network216.

In some embodiments, the system 200 also includes suitable input/outputports or may use the Interconnect Bus 218 for interconnection with alocal display 204 and user interface 206 (e.g., keyboard, mouse,touchscreen) or the like serving as a local user interface forprogramming and/or data entry, retrieval, or manipulation purposes.Alternatively, server operations personnel may interact with the system200 for controlling and/or programming the system from remote terminaldevices (not shown in the Figure) via the network 216.

In some embodiments, a system implementing high frequency holographicnavigation requires a processor, such as a navigational controller 170,coupled to one or more coherent sensors (e.g., a sonar, radar, opticalantenna, etc.) 214. Data corresponding to a model of the terrain and/ordata corresponding to a holographic map associated with the model may bestored in the memory 208 or mass storage 210, and may be retrieved bythe processor 202. Processor 202 may execute instructions stored inthese memory devices to perform any of the methods described in thisapplication, e.g., grazing angle compensation, or high frequencyholographic navigation.

The system may include a display 204 for displaying information, amemory 208 (e.g., ROM, RAM, flash, etc.) for storing at least a portionof the aforementioned data, and a mass storage device 210 (e.g.,solid-state drive) for storing at least a portion of the aforementioneddata. Any set of the aforementioned components may be coupled to anetwork 216 via an input/output (I/O) interface 212. Each of theaforementioned components may communicate via interconnect bus 218.

In some embodiments, a system implementing high frequency holographicnavigation requires a processor coupled to one or more coherent sensors(e.g., a sonar, radar, optical antenna, etc.) 214. Examples of suitablesensor arrays are illustrated schematically in FIGS. 3 and 4. Anexemplary sonar array is shown in FIG. 3. This array includes atransmitter, receive array, and receive element. An exemplary syntheticaperture sonar array is shown in FIG. 4. This array includes atransmitter, receive array, and receive element, and a virtual arraywith an associated phase center/virtual element.

Data corresponding to a model of the terrain, data corresponding to aholographic map associated with the model, and a process for grazingangle compensation may be performed by a processor 202 operating on thedata, as shown in FIG. 2. The system may include a display 204 fordisplaying information, a memory 208 (e.g., ROM, RAM, flash, etc.) forstoring at least a portion of the aforementioned data, and a massstorage device 210 (e.g., solid-state drive) for storing at least aportion of the aforementioned data. Any set of the aforementionedcomponents may be coupled to a network 216 via an input/output (I/O)interface 212. Each of the aforementioned components may communicate viainterconnect bus 218.

In operation, a processor 202 receives a position estimate for thesensor(s) 214, a waveform or image from the sensor(s) 214, and datacorresponding to a model of the terrain, e.g., the sea floor. In someembodiments, such a position estimate may not be received and theprocess performed by processor 202 continues without this information.Optionally, the processor 202 may receive navigational informationand/or altitude information, and a processor 202 may perform a coherentimage rotation algorithm. The output from the system processor 202includes the position to which the vehicle needs to move to.

The components contained in the system 200 are those typically found ingeneral purpose computer systems used as servers, workstations, personalcomputers, network terminals, portable devices, and the like. In fact,these components are intended to represent a broad category of suchcomputer components that are well known in the art.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that methodsinvolved in the systems and methods of the invention may be embodied ina computer program product that includes a non-transitory computerusable and/or readable medium. For example, such a computer usablemedium may consist of a read only memory device, such as a CD ROM disk,conventional ROM devices, or a random access memory, a hard drive deviceor a computer diskette, a flash memory, a DVD, or any like digitalmemory medium, having a computer readable program code stored thereon.

Optionally, the system may include an inertial navigation system, aDoppler sensor, an altimeter, a gimbling system to fixate the sensor ona populated portion of a holographic map, a global positioning system(GPS), a long baseline (LBL) navigation system, an ultrashort baseline(USBL) navigation, or any other suitable navigation system.

High-Frequency Holographic Navigation

In one aspect, the systems and methods described above include methodsfor determining a navigational position of an underwater vehicletraversing an underwater terrain. The methods may include receiving amap including a high frequency synthetic aperture image of a portion ofan underwater terrain being traversed by an underwater vehicle, the mapincluding acoustic data, within a first high frequency range, obtainedfrom synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) imaging of the portion of theunderwater terrain. The methods may further include predicting a firstposition value, wherein the first position value represents the locationof the underwater vehicle on the map of the underwater terrain, andgenerating a real aperture image of the portion of the underwaterterrain by insonifying the portion of the underwater terrain with anacoustic signal within a second high frequency range. The second highfrequency range may at least partially overlap with the first highfrequency range. The methods may include modifying the real apertureimage by compensating for grazing angle errors to generate a grazingangle invariant real aperture image, and correcting for phase errors inthe grazing angle invariant real aperture image. The methods may furtherinclude coherently correlating the modified real aperture image with themap and updating the first position value based on the coherentcorrelation. In certain embodiments, the map is modified by compensatingfor grazing angle errors to generate a grazing angle invariant map.

In certain embodiments, the first and second high frequency rangesinclude a minimum frequency greater than 100 kHz. The second highfrequency range may be a subset of the first high frequency range. Theoverlap between the first high frequency range and the second highfrequency range may be implicit, such that a frequency range of thegrazing angle compensated real image may at least partially overlap witha frequency range of the map when modified to compensate for grazingangle errors.

In certain embodiments, generating a real aperture image includes aplurality of real aperture images, each of the plurality of realaperture images representing a subset of the portion of the underwaterterrain. In such embodiments, the phase error in each of the pluralityof real aperture images is substantially constant. The step ofcorrecting for phase errors may include splitting the image into aplurality of sub-regions, each sub-region having a substantiallyconstant range varying phase error, estimating the range varying phaseerror for each sub-region, and modifying the image by correcting eachsub-region of the image for the corresponding phase error.

In certain embodiments, modifying the real aperture image includesestimating a range varying phase error and applying a first correctionbased on the estimated range varying phase error. In such embodiments,estimating the range varying phase error includes at least one ofunwrapping phase values, applying least squares fit and applying a fastfourier transform.

The method may further comprise repeating the steps of predicting thefirst position, generating the real aperture image, modifying the realaperture image, coherently correlating the real aperture image andupdating the first position, wherein the first position includes theupdated first position from the previous repetition.

The method may further include determining a heading of the underwatervehicle based on the updated first position. Generally, the firstposition value may be calculated using at least one of globalpositioning system (GPS) estimation, inertial guidance systems, compassand accelerometer. The underwater vehicle may include an autonomousunderwater vehicle (AUV) and the underwater terrain may include at leasta portion of the sea bed.

In another aspect, the systems and methods described herein may includesystems for navigating in an underwater terrain. The systems may includea map store, for receiving a map including a high frequency syntheticaperture image of a portion of an underwater terrain being traversed byan underwater vehicle, the map including acoustic data, within a firsthigh frequency range, obtained from synthetic aperture sonar (SAS)imaging of the portion of the underwater terrain. The systems may alsoinclude a transducer array, for generating a real aperture image of theportion of the underwater terrain by insonifying the portion of theunderwater terrain with an acoustic signal within a second highfrequency range, wherein the second high frequency range at leastpartially overlaps with the first high frequency range. In certainembodiments, the systems may include a grazing angle compensator formodifying the real aperture image by compensating for grazing angleerrors and generating a grazing angle invariant image, a phase errorcorrector for modifying the grazing angle invariant image to correct forphase errors, and a signal correlator for coherently correlating themodified real aperture image with the map. The system may also include acentral control unit for predicting a first position value, wherein thefirst position value represents the location of the underwater vehicleon the map of the underwater terrain, and updating the first positionvalue based on the coherent correlation.

In another aspect, the systems and methods described herein includemethods for determining a navigational position of an underwater vehicletraversing an underwater terrain. The methods may include receiving amap including a synthetic aperture image of a portion of an underwaterterrain being traversed by an underwater vehicle. The map includingacoustic data, within a first frequency range, obtained from syntheticaperture sonar (SAS) imaging of the portion of the underwater terrain.The methods may further include predicting a first position value. Thefirst position value may represent the location of the underwatervehicle on the map of the underwater terrain. The methods may includegenerating a synthetic aperture image of the portion of the underwaterterrain by insonifying the portion of the underwater terrain with anacoustic signal within a second frequency range. The second frequencyrange may at least partially overlap with the first frequency range. Incertain embodiments, the methods include modifying the syntheticaperture image by compensating for grazing angle errors to generate agrazing angle invariant synthetic aperture image, and correcting forphase errors in the grazing angle invariant synthetic aperture image,coherently correlating the modified synthetic aperture image with themap, and updating the first position value based on the coherentcorrelation.

In yet another aspect, the systems and methods described herein includemethods for determining a navigational position of an underwater vehicletraversing an underwater terrain. The methods may include receiving amap including a synthetic aperture image of a portion of an underwaterterrain being traversed by an underwater vehicle. The map may includeacoustic data, within a first frequency range, obtained from syntheticaperture sonar (SAS) imaging of the portion of the underwater terrain.The methods include predicting a first position value, wherein the firstposition value represents the location of the underwater vehicle on themap of the underwater terrain, and generating a real aperture image ofthe portion of the underwater terrain by insonifying the portion of theunderwater terrain with an acoustic signal within a second frequencyrange, wherein the second frequency range at least partially overlapswith the first frequency range. In certain embodiments, the methodsinclude modifying the real aperture image by compensating for grazingangle errors to generate a grazing angle invariant real aperture image,and correcting for phase errors in the grazing angle invariant realaperture image, coherently correlating the modified real aperture imagewith the map, and updating the first position value based on thecoherent correlation. In certain embodiments, at least one of the firstfrequency range and the second frequency range is from about 1 kHz-100kHz. The first frequency range and the second frequency range may beless than about 80 kHz.

FIGS. 5A-5B depict processes 500 and 550 for navigating a terrain usingan exemplary high-frequency sonar navigation system, such as system 100,according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. Inparticular, the processes 500 and 550 may be implemented across severalcomponents of system 100 of FIG. 1. The system 100 may receive via wireor wirelessly, at the map store 154, a prior high frequency SAS image ofa portion of the terrain being navigated (step 502). The prior image mayhave been obtained using a frequency range greater than 100 kHz. Forexample, the frequency of the prior SAS image may include a well-formedimage in the frequency range of 100 kHz-110 kHz, or between 110 kHz-120kHz. The frequency of the prior SAS image may be between 100 kHz-150 kHzand/or 125 kHz-175 kHz and/or 175 kHz-225 kHz. The frequency of theprior SAS image may be greater than 500 kHz and in certain embodiments,the frequency may be greater than 1 MHz. In certain embodiments, thefrequency ranges may be selected based on application. For example, forcertain ocean systems, the frequencies may be up to about 500 kHz, andin certain medical ultrasound systems, the frequency may be about 15MHz. In certain embodiments, the frequency ranges may be selected to beless than 100 kHz. In such embodiments, the process 500 may beespecially beneficial depending on the ratio of the size of the error tothe wavelength. In one example, for ships bouncing in waves process 500may be beneficial for frequencies down below 10 kHz. The prior SAS imagemay be grazing angle compensated and/or phase error corrected and thefrequency of the image may be post-grazing angle correction. In certainalternative embodiments, the prior image may include a low frequencyimage in the tens of kHz and less than 100 kHz.

The process 500 includes predicting, by the CCU 160, an initial positionvalue of the vehicle traversing the terrain based on a previous position(Step 504). The position value may be represented in any suitablecoordinate system. The CCU 160 may generate this initial position valuebased on information from the navigational controller 170 and previousmotion. The CCU 160 may also determine an error estimate or navigationaluncertainty associated with this initial position value (step 506).

The system 100 may insonify a portion of the terrain being navigatedwith a high-frequency signal and generate a current sonar image (step508 in FIG. 5A, step 558 in FIG. 5B). In certain embodiments, CCU 160 inconnection with the transmitter controller 118 may send transmissioninstructions to the transmitter 116 and the transducer array 112. Toallow for coherent correlation, the frequency of imaging may be selectedto overlap with the frequency range of the received prior map obtainedin step 502. The overlap in frequencies may be a complete overlap, apartial overall or an implicit overlap. In a complete overlap, thefrequency range of the current sonar image may lie completely within thefrequency range of the prior map. In a partial overlap, the frequencyrange of the current sonar image may partially overlap with thefrequency range of the prior map. Even when frequency ranges of thecurrent raw imaging process and the prior mapping process do notoverlap, there may still be an implicit overlap if the aspect or viewingangle of the two images are appropriately different. In such an implicitoverlap scenario, the grazing angle compensated frequencies of thecurrent image and the prior map at least partially overlap. For example,a 100 kHz signal at a 45 degree grazing angle would have the sameprojected wavelength as a 70.7 kHz signal at a grazing angle of zero andwould consequently constitute an implicit overlap. As another example, a100 kHz-110 kHz image at a relatively flat grazing angle may coherentlycorrelate with a 110 kHz-120 kHz map at a relatively steeper grazingangle. Generally, the system 100 may operate as a SAS and obtain ahigh-frequency SAS image. To obtain a SAS image, the system 100 mayoperate in sectorscan mode, sidescan mode, stripmap mode and/orspotlight mode. System 100 may even operate as a phased array and obtaina real aperture image of the terrain.

The obtained current image, which may include a real aperture image, instep 508 in FIG. 5A or a synthetic aperture image, in step 558 in FIG.5B, may be passed through preprocessor 120, matched filter 130 andreceived at the signal corrector 140. The obtained current image ismodified to compensate for grazing angle by the grazing anglecompensator 142 (step 509 in FIG. 5A, step 559 in FIG. 5B). Generally,the obtained current image is converted to a grazing angle invariantimage. The grazing angle compensator 142 approximates the terrain (e.g.,sea floor) as a smoothly undulating manifold with embedded pointscatterers, and models the sonar signals as interference between pointscatterer echoes. Shadowing and occlusion are generally neglected andchanges in grazing angle are assumed to change the pitch of the echo.Changes in pitch generally cause all frequencies to be scaled by amultiplier which is the secant of the grazing angle. By reversing theprocess (i.e., projecting the echo onto the sea floor), a relationshipbetween scatterer spacing and image frequency is established that isindependent of grazing angle. Typically, grazing angle compensation islimited by transmitter design; the applicable range of angles isdetermined by signal bandwidth and transmitter properties.

The compensated obtained current image, which may be a real apertureimage or a synthetic aperture image or any suitable sonar image, is thenmodified to correct for range varying phase errors by the phase errorcorrector 144 (step 510 in FIG. 5A, step 560 in FIG. 5B). The process ofcorrecting for range varying phase errors, which allows forhigh-frequency imaging and navigation, is described in more detail withreference to FIG. 7.

The compensated and error corrected obtained current image of theterrain is coherently correlated, at the signal correlator 152, with theprior SAS map received at step 502 (step 511 in FIG. 5A, step 561 inFIG. 5B). Generally, because image intensities can spatially vary, thesignal detector 150 may be configured to perform a normalizedcorrelation. In certain embodiments, the normalized correlation may beperformed by calculating the correlation coefficient. Generally forsonar images, the correlation coefficient is often low (less than 0.1)and the values depend on the available structure. Without a prioriknowledge of the terrain, it is difficult to define detector thresholds.Detection may still be possible, however, because signal to noise ratios(SNR) may be high. The signal detector 150 may calculate additionalstatistics of the normalized correlation include the statisticaldistributions of the signals (amplitude and phase) and/or noise. Thestatistical distributions may include Rayleigh and/or Gaussiandistributions. The detector thresholds may be selected based on thedistribution. Examples of suitable correlation techniques included insignal detector 150 techniques described in “On Correlating SonarImages,” Richard J. Rikoski and J. Tory Cobb and Daniel C. Brown,Robotics: Science and Systems'05, 2005, and “Holographic navigation,”Richard J. Rikoski and Daniel C. Brown, ICRA'08, 2008, the entirecontents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Using the coherent correlation of the image with the map, the CCU 160may determine a measured position value (step 512) and the associatederror estimate of the position (step 513). Certain exemplary techniquesto determine measured position are described in “Holographicnavigation,” Richard J. Rikoski and Daniel C. Brown, ICRA'08, 2008, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Based on the new position estimate, the CCU 160 may update controlsignals and instruct the motor controller 180 to move the vehicleaccordingly. If navigation to a new location is complete (step 515), theprevious map-based calculated position is set as the previous position(step 516) and the process 500 is repeated at the new position.

In some embodiments, traditional SAS navigation may robustly and easilysolve for position, but may less efficiently solves for heading, e.g.,of an unmanned autonomous vehicle. It may be possible to correlate asynthetic aperture image against either a real aperture or syntheticaperture image at various angles to estimate the heading, but this maybe computationally intensive. The proposed system may solve this problemby decomposing the heading estimation problem into a two step process.First, holographic navigation is used to estimate position. Then, acorrelation is performed using an angular coordinate system centered onthe estimated position. Assuming range is r and angle is θ, a coordinatesystem which is a function of r and θ is used for correlation. In thesimplest instantiation, (f(r), g(θ))=(r,θ), but alternatives likef(r)=horizontal distance along the bottom or g(θ)=sin(θ) may also beappropriate. The correlation may either be in range and angle or just inangle, but to detect heading it may be necessary to correlate in angle.The angle with the maximum correlation corresponds to the direction thereacquisition sonar is facing. Two exemplary processes for solving forheading are processes 600 and 650 illustrated in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6 b,respectively. Processes 600 and 650 may be similar to processes 500 and550, respectively, except for the step of determining heading based onmeasured position value as shown in step 602 in FIG. 6A and step 652 inFIG. 6B.

As noted above, the system 100 includes a phase error corrector 144 tocorrect for range varying phase errors. Range varying phase errors maylead to low correlation values when correlating between two highfrequency images (e.g., an image and a map). As an illustrative example,suppose a robot with a high frequency sonar attempts to correlate itsimagery with a prior map but it has a 1 cm altitude error and a 1 cmwavelength. Directly underneath the vehicle this leads to a 2 cm pathlength error, or 2 cycles. At long range, this leads to a zero cycledelay. Consequently, if the prior sonar image and the conjugate of thenew sonar are multiplied together but not summed (image1*conj(image2))what will be observed is a range varying phase that is due to thataltitude error. When the multiplied images are summed together thisrange varying phase error will cause destructive interference, leadingto a very low correlation value.

Similarly, as a second illustrative example, assume a 0.01% sound speederror, a 1 cm sonar, and an operating altitude of 5 meters. The travelpath directly under the vehicle is 10 meters, or 1000 cycles, leading toa 1/10^(th) of a cycle error. At a range of 50 meters (or 10,000 cycles)this leads to a full cycle error. At a range of 500 meters this leads to10 cycles of error. So again, when the multiplied sonar images aresummed constructive interference will drive the cross correlation down.High frequency holographic navigation attempts to solve these problemsby either using image pieces which are small enough to be immune tothose effects, or by estimating and correcting for those biasedparameters.

One method of correcting for phase error is to cut the image into smallregions where the phase error is constant and use those as independentmeasurements. In regions with very high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) thismay be very efficient. FIG. 7 depicts a process 700 for correcting rangevarying phase errors in a high-frequency sonar system, according to anillustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 700 maybe implemented on phase error corrector 144 of the signal corrector 140in system 100 of FIG. 1. The process 700 begins with receiving a realaperture image or synthetic aperture image. (step 702). In certainembodiments, the real aperture image may be modified with grazing anglecompensation. The phase error corrector 144 may estimate the rangevarying phase error of the entire received real aperture image (step704). The phase error corrector 144 may then determine if the variationin phase error across the image is less than an error threshold (step706). The error threshold may be set as desired. In certain embodiments,the error threshold may be set depending on the maximum range of thereal aperture image. If the variation in phase error across the image isgreater than the error threshold then the image may be split intosub-regions (step 708). The phase error corrector 144 may split theimage into sub regions as desired. The sub-regions may be of equal sizesor of different sizes. Sub-regions may be of varying sizes such that thesize variation may be based on the range. The phase error corrector 144may estimate the phase error for each sub-region (step 712), anddetermine if the variation in phase error across each subregion is lessthan a phase error threshold (step 714). The error threshold forsubregions may be the same as or different from (greater than or lessthan) the error threshold associated with step 706. The error thresholdsfor each subregion may be different or the same. If the phase error in aparticular subregion is less than the error threshold, that particularsubregion may be corrected for the corresponding phase error, which issubstantially constant across the entirety of the particular subregion(step 715). If the phase error is greater than the threshold then thesubregion may be split into smaller subregions and steps 708, 712, 714may be repeated. In certain embodiments, the subregions may be selectedsuch that they have constant altitude phase error or constant soundspeed error. One or more selected subregions in one or more sensitivemapping regions may be selected to have the largest possible size.

In certain embodiments, suppose system 100 can correlate small patches(e.g., 50 pixels by 50 pixels). In such example, if the image is 1000 by1000 pixels, then system 100 may cut the image up into 20×20 regions of50×50 pixels each. The system 100 may perform 400 separate correlations.Each correlation may have a peak with a slight shift and a slightlydifferent phase value due to the unknown error function. System 100 maytake the absolute value of each correlation and sum them all together toeliminate destructive interference due to the phase differences. Such anapproach may be advantageous at least when the error function isunknown. Also, although the noise may be Rayleigh distributed when thedistribution of the absolute value for a single image correlation isviewed, but when system 100 sums a large number together the law oflarge numbers applies and the noise becomes Gaussian distributed.

The system 100 may include other methods for compensating for phaseerrors. In certain embodiments, the real image is taken and a sum of theenvelopes of small image correlation regions with approximatelystationary phase is calculated before calculating a probability densityfunction based on that sum. This may be similar to a speckle reductiontechnique used in imaging methods. The sums can either be for a singlealtitude solution or for multiple altitude solutions; if multiplealtitude solutions are used then the technique measures altitude bias.In certain embodiments, using the envelope only (the absolute value ofthe correlation result) removes the relative phase differences betweencorrelation results. It is important to note that summing together alarge number of correlation images results in a transition from Rayleighto Gaussian distributed speckle intensity; this difference may beimportant when converting the correlation result to a probabilitydensity function. Previous holographic navigation techniques, which usethe Rayleigh distribution, typically fail when presented withcorrelation results based on sub-image summation; switching to a morerepresentative distribution is key. When a small number of images aresummed together the distribution may not yet be fully Gaussian and maybe better represented by some other distribution such as aK-distribution.

In some embodiments, patches may be used with roughly stationary phaseto estimate the range varying phase error and then apply an appropriatecorrection so as to enable full waveform correlation. In someembodiments, estimating the range varying phase error may be doneseveral ways, including, inter alia, unwrapping the phase and fitting acurve, doing a least squares fit to the raw angles, or changingcoordinate systems and using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) or any typeof fourier transform such as a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) or awavelet transform to find the delay. This embodiment (combining acoordinate system change and an FFT) is applicable to time delayestimation beyond holographic navigation (for instance, to motionestimation for synthetic aperture systems using displaced phased centernavigation, especially for heave estimation).

In one example of a heave estimation technique includes the following:

$t = {\frac{2r}{c} = \frac{2\sqrt{x^{2} + z^{2}}}{c}}$

Where t=time, r=range, c=sound speed, x=horizontal range and z=altitude.

$x = \sqrt{\frac{c^{2}t^{2}}{4} - z^{2\;}}$$\frac{x}{z} = {{- \frac{z}{\sqrt{\frac{c^{2}t^{2}}{4} - z^{2}}}} = {- \frac{z}{x}}}$${x^{\prime} \cong {x + e_{x} + {\frac{x}{z}e_{z}}}} = {x + e_{x} - {\frac{z}{x}e_{z}}}$

Where e_(x)=x error, e_(z)=z error, s˜=envelope function,k_(x0)=wavenumber of carrier frequency.

Convert s(t)->s(x)

Now, s1(x1) !=s2(x2) because of error (e_(x), e_(z)). So when youmultiply s1(x1) by the conjugate of s2(x2), the signals differ by anoffset:

${x\; 2} = {{x\; 1} + e_{x\;} - {\frac{z}{x\; 1}e_{z}}}$${{x\; 2} - {x\; 1}} = {e_{x} - {\frac{z}{x\; 1}e_{z}}}$

Now, e_(x) is usually pretty easily observable and removable, gettingyou to a range varying error:

${{x\; 2} - {x\; 1}} = {{- \frac{z}{x\; 1}}e_{z}}$

The signals are now

${s\; 1(x)} = {\overset{\sim}{s\; 1}(x)^{j\; k_{x\; 0}x}}$${s\; 2(x)} = {{\overset{\sim}{s\; 2}(x)^{j\; k_{x\; 0}x}} = {\overset{\sim}{s\; 1}( {x + {\frac{x}{z}e_{z}}} )^{j\; {k_{x\; 0}{({x + {\frac{x}{z}e_{z}}})}}}}}$${s\; 1(x)\; s\; 2^{*}(x)} = {\overset{\sim}{s\; 1}(x)\overset{\sim}{s\; 2}(x)^{{- j}\; k_{x\; 0}\frac{\; x}{z}e_{z\;}}}$${s\; 1(x)s\; 2^{*}(x)} = {\overset{\sim}{s\; 1}(x)\overset{\sim}{s\; 2}(x)^{j\; k_{x\; 0}\frac{z}{x}e_{z}}}$

Now, changing into a new coordinate system

$\sigma = \frac{k_{x\; 0}z}{x}$

changes this into

s1(σ)s2*(σ)=

(σ)

(σ)e ^(jσe) ^(z) ≈

(σ)² e ^(jσe) ^(z)

From here, we can do a Fourier transform to estimate e_(z).

In certain embodiments one or more techniques employed by the signalcorrector 140 or any other component of system 100 may be used incertain applications including, but not limited to, change detection andtwo pass interferometry. Change detection is typically a process oftaking two passes by a scene, then accurately aligning two images, andcoherently comparing them. In regions where there has been “change” theymay decorrelate significantly. Two-pass interferometry is typically aprocess of taking two passes over a scene, aligning two images andcomparing the phase of these two images. The comparison of phase of twoimages may reveal changes and deformation in the terrain. In certainembodiments, such deformation may be over timespans of days to years.Such applications may be useful for geophysical monitoring of naturalhazards, such as earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides, and also instructural engineering, including monitoring of subsidence andstructural stability. Other applications of system 100, and particularlysignal corrector 140, include reconnaissance, surveillance andtargeting. These applications may use system 100 to generate highresolution images and to distinguish terrain features (surface and/orunderwater) and to recognize and identify selected man made targets.Still other applications include interferometry, navigation, guidance,imaging foliage and underground or subsurface targets, detecting andmoving targets, and environmental monitoring application such asmonitoring oil spills.

They systems and methods described herein may be adapted as desired forboth sonar and radar systems. For example, sonar transducers may bereplaced with suitable radar transducers, and one or more components maybe modified, added to or removed from the systems described herein tooperate in a sonar and radar regime. In some embodiments, the systemsand methods may be configured to operate as both sonar and radardevices, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Incertain embodiments, when the systems and methods are configured forsonar imaging, the frequencies may be in the range from 100 kHz to about200 kHz. In certain embodiments, when the systems and methods areconfigured for radar imaging, the frequencies may be in the range from 1GHz to about 30 GHz. Generally, the systems and methods described hereinmay be applied for any frequency range, without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure.

Certain Applications of High-Frequency Holographic Mapping andNavigation Systems

The systems and methods described here make use of various other aspectsof the holographic nature and high frequency of synthetic apertureimages, which inventor has recognized. For example, systems and methodsare described herein for determining a three-dimensional model of ashape based on its two dimensional shading and shadowing of acousticsignals. In some embodiments, traditional shape from shading may be oneparameter shy of a solution; an approximation may be required in orderto derive a three dimensional model from a pure image. However, since asynthetic aperture image is a quasi-hologram and contains a continuum ofimages of a range of angles, it may contain enough information toover-constrain the shape from shading problem. The systems and methodsabove described solve the shape from shading problem by decomposing theSAS image into lower resolution sub-patches and then deriving theirorientation from the shading observed from multiple vantage points.

The systems and methods described herein include methods for positioningsensors (such as Tsunami sensors) and navigation beacons withhigh-precision using HF holographic navigation. In certain embodiments,Tsunami buoys use sensors on the seafloor to small variations in waterpressure. To make accurate measurements it is necessary that the sensorbe positioned properly on the seafloor. If the sensors are hidden behindrocks or are not level/well placed on the sea floor it can affect theaccuracy of their measurements. The systems and methods described hereincombine a holographic navigation system, and maneuvering system, and atsunami sensor so that tsunami sensors can be positioned very preciselyusing a prior map.

In some embodiments, holographic navigation enables very high precisionnavigation relative to the seafloor, but may be limited by the necessityof periodically observing the seafloor. Midwater system that may be at agreat altitude to observe the seafloor cannot take advantage ofholographic navigation or its precision. The systems and methodsdescribed herein address this limitation by combining a beacon system,and maneuvering system, and a holographic navigation system. The beaconis able to position itself very precisely, enabling systems includinglong baseline navigation or ultrashort baseline navigation withoutneeding to calibrate the beacon system using a ship.

The systems and methods described herein include methods for monitoringand modeling a water column using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)based on high-precision location measurements obtained using HFholographic navigation. In some embodiments, AUVs either circle a buoyor simply form a wagon wheel. By transmitting orthogonal signals to oneanother they can measure time of flight between positions and alsomeasure differential time of flight. From time of flight, it may bepossible to determine the sound speed of the water; from differentialtime of flight it may be possible to determine the Doppler shift alongthe connecting vector/estimate water velocity. Vehicle positions aredetermined using holographic navigation, thereby enabling a highprecision model of the water column in post processing. Vehicles maydock at a central buoy for recharging.

In some embodiments, AUV vehicle recovery and vehicle docking may bedifficult problems due to the dynamic nature of both the vehicle and thedestination. If it can be decomposed into a purely relative problem, thevehicle needs its position relative to the dock as well as itsorientation. The systems and methods described herein allow a vehicle topassively estimate its non-range position relative to a docking systempassively, and allows it to estimate its range to the docking systemactively.

In some embodiments, the system takes advantage of the fact that ablazed array transmits different frequencies at different angles. Usingtwo blazed arrays with different frequencies oriented orthogonally itcreates a two dimensional grid of frequencies. For instance, suppose a300-600 kHz blazed array was oriented such that the frequencies variedwith horizontal displacement, and a 600-1200 kHz blazed array wasoriented such that its frequencies varied in the vertical direction. Avehicle observing 450 kHz and 900 kHz would be driving straight into thedock. A system observing 500 kHz and 900 kHz would have the correctelevation but would be displaced horizontally. A system observing 450kHz and 950 kHz would be displaced vertically. In some embodiments, tomeasure the vehicle's orientation with respect to the docking station,the vehicle would have a small passive array to measure the direction ofthe incoming signal from the blazed arrays.

In some embodiments, range may be measured using a small beacon systemsuch as an ultrashort baseline beacon. In some embodiments, range may bemeasured using high frequencies that are only observable at shortranges, or may be neglected entirely (purely a glide path based dockingmethod).

Seismic Survey System Using Planar SAS and Holographic Navigation

Seismic survey is generally a form of 2D or 3D geophysical survey thatis used to measure terrestrial or extra-terrestrial properties by meansof acoustics or electromagnetic. Seismic survey systems are necessaryfor offshore oil exploration, but they are large, ship intensive,expensive, and high power. Traditional seismic survey systems use veryhigh powered transmitters to insonify the bottom, and receive the signalon a network of towed arrays which are dragged behind a large ship.

In certain embodiments, the systems and methods include a seismic surveysystem having a combination of orthogonal transmitters and multiplereceivers to form a full planar synthetic aperture sonar with higherresolution, lower power, and fewer large ships than a traditionalseismic survey system.

In certain aspects, the systems and methods described herein includesystem for surveying an underwater terrain. The systems may include afirst number of a plurality of acoustic transmitter elements mounted onone or more vehicles, and a second number of a plurality of acousticreceiver elements mounted on one or more vehicles. Each of the vehiclesmay include a processor having a synthetic aperture image of a portionof the underwater terrain. The synthetic aperture image may includeacoustic data obtained from prior synthetic aperture sonar imaging ofthe portion of the underwater terrain. In certain embodiments, theplurality of vehicles are arranged to form a planar synthetic aperturesonar array having a third number of phase centers. In such embodiments,the third number of phase centers is equal to the first numbermultiplied by the second number. The transmitters in such systems may beconfigured to generate orthogonal acoustic signals.

In certain embodiments, the vehicles include underwater vehicles and/orsurface vehicles. The one or more vehicles may be positioned based on amapping against the prior synthetic aperture image of the portion of theunderwater terrain.

The transmitter elements and receiver elements may operate atfrequencies in a range from about 1 Hz to about 10 kHz. In certainembodiments, the transmitter elements and receiver elements operate atfrequencies in a range greater than about 10 kHz. In certainembodiments, the transmitter elements and receiver elements operate atfrequencies in a range from about 10 Hz to about 1 kHz.

The processor may be further configured for determining at least one ofa property of an underwater surface. The underwater surface may includeat least one of the seafloor, subsurface hydrocarbon deposit, andsubsurface magma chamber.

Applicants' system takes advantage of the phase center approximation ofsynthetic aperture sonar (SAS). A phase center is located halfwaybetween the transmitter and receiver. For an array to be fully populated(from a Nyquist perspective) it needs to have an appropriate number ofproperly spaced phase centers.

In certain embodiments, system 100 includes multiple transmitters. Usingmultiple transmitters with orthogonal signals, it may be possible todistinguish between phases created by different transmitters. Therefore,by using M transmitters and N receivers, it is possible to create MNphase centers. This is often less expensive than using one transmitterand MN receivers. In certain embodiments, the system 100 generalizes toany practical value of M and N.

The transmitters of the system can be mounted on any sort of vessel orrobot (ship, autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), unmanned surfacevehicle (USV), nuclear submarine, etc). In certain embodiments, thetransmitters of the systems described herein may require a relativelyhigh power. In such embodiments, the vessel may be equipped withsuitable power delivery systems to supply the needed power to thetransmitters. One example of a vessel includes modest sized USVs such as10 m RHIBs (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats) since autonomous systems areideal for maneuvering in formation and surface craft enable the use ofGPS.

In certain embodiments, system 100 includes multiple receivers. Thereceivers of the system can be mounted on various vehicles and usevarious array types without dragging arrays behind ships (even thoughthis is possible). In some embodiments, AUVs are flown in formationclose to the bottom. This reduces losses on the return path, reduces thenecessary transmit power, and allows the receivers to be preciselypositioned using holographic navigation. Holographic navigation in thismanner requires a prior seabed survey of the area, but this isrelatively inexpensive.

In some embodiments, the combination of transmitters and receivers forma line array of phase centers. That line array is then translatedorthogonally to its axis in a predominantly horizontal direction, sothat when the data is accumulated there is a Nyquist sampled planararray. Using that planar array it may be possible to beamform the signalto form a 3D image composed of high resolution voxels penetrating deepinto the seabed.

Generally, for seismic survey applications, system 100 may be operatedat any suitable frequency without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure. For example, system 100 may be configured forfrequencies in the range of 1 Hz to about 10 kHz. The system 100 may begenerally configured for frequencies less than 10 kHz, includingfrequencies in the range of 100 Hz to about 10 kHz. In certainembodiments, system 100 may be adapted with electromagnetic transducersand suitable components for radar-based seismic applications. In suchapplications the frequencies may range from about 300 MHz to about 30GHz. Whether configured to operate for radar or sonar basedapplications, system 100 may use frequencies in any suitable rangewithout departing from the scope of the invention.

They systems and methods described herein may be adapted as desired forboth sonar and radar systems, and accordingly for both syntheticaperture sonar (SAS) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Forexample, sonar transducers may be replaced with suitable radartransducers, and one or more components may be modified, added to orremoved from the systems described herein to operate in a sonar andradar regime. In some embodiments, the systems and methods may beconfigured to operate as both sonar and radar devices, without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In certain embodiments, whenthe systems and methods are configured for sonar imaging, thefrequencies may be in both high and low frequency ranges in the rangefrom 10 Hz to about 1 kHz. In certain embodiments, when the systems andmethods are configured for radar imaging, the frequencies may be in therange from 1 MHz to about 100 MHz. Generally, the systems and methodsdescribed herein may be applied for any frequency range, withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

Low Grating Sidelobe SAS

In certain aspects, the systems and methods described herein includemethods for generating a synthetic aperture sonar image. The methods mayinclude providing a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) array having at leastone transmitter element and a plurality of receiver elements arrangedalong a first axis. Each of the transmitter element and the receiverelements may have a first width, and the transmitter element may beconfigured to generate a first set of signals having a plurality oforthogonal acoustic signals. The methods may include calculating theeffective spacing of the SAS array, representing an effective distancebetween the transmitter element and the receiver elements during motion,simultaneously moving the SAS array along the first axis and generating,using the transmitter element, a first acoustic signal from the firstset of signals, and calculating a threshold distance as the effectivespacing divided by the number of acoustic signals in the first set ofsignals. In certain embodiments, in response to determining that the SASarray has moved the threshold distance, the methods may includegenerating, using the transmitter element, a second acoustic signal fromthe first set of signals, wherein the second acoustic signal isorthogonal to the first acoustic signal. The effective spacing may beabout half the first width.

In certain embodiments, one or more acoustic signals in the first set ofsignals has a frequency greater than 100 kHz. One or more acousticsignals in the first set of signals may have a frequency in range fromabout 100 Hz to about 100 kHz.

The SAS array may be moved at fixed speed and the determination whetherthe SAS array has moved the threshold distance is based on a time delay.In certain embodiments, during a first time period the SAS arraytransmits only the first acoustic signal, during a second time periodthe SAS array transmits both the first acoustic signal and the secondacoustic signal, and during a third time period the SAS array transmitsonly the second acoustic signal.

In certain embodiments, a duration of the first acoustic signal issubstantially similar to a duration of the second acoustic signal. Oneor more signals in the first set of signals may include a short pulsesound generated for undersea measurement.

The SAS array may be disposed on at least one of an underwater vehicleor a surface vehicle for imaging an underwater terrain. The SAS arraymay be disposed on at least one of an aerial vehicle or a terrestrialvehicle for imaging a terrestrial terrain.

In another aspect, the systems and methods described herein includemethods for generating a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) image. Themethods may include providing a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) arrayhaving at least one transmitter element and a plurality of receiverelements arranged along a first axis, wherein each of the transmitterelement and the receiver elements have a first width. The methods mayfurther include simultaneously moving the sonar array along the firstaxis and generating, using the transmitter element, a first set ofacoustic signals at intervals having a first duration and a second setof acoustic signals at intervals having a second duration. In certainembodiments, the sonar array includes a first effective spacingrepresenting an effective distance between the transmitter element andthe receiver elements during motion. The first set of acoustic signalsmay be orthogonal to the second set of acoustic signals, and the firstduration and the second duration may be selected such that the firsteffective spacing is less than one-half the first width.

In certain embodiments, the first duration and the second duration areselected such that the first effective spacing is about one-quarter thefirst width. The methods may further comprise generating a first numberof acoustic signals, wherein the first duration and the second durationare selected such that the first effective spacing is about one half thefirst width divided by the first number of acoustic signals.

In yet another aspect, the systems and methods described herein includesystems for generating a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) image. Thesystems may include a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) array having atleast one transmitter element and a plurality of receiver elementsarranged along a first axis, wherein each of the transmitter element andthe receiver elements have a first width, wherein the transmitterelement is configured to generate a first set of signals having aplurality of orthogonal acoustic signals. The systems may also include aprocessor configured for calculating the effective spacing of the SASarray, representing an effective distance between the transmitterelement and the receiver elements during motion, simultaneously movingthe SAS array along the first axis and generating, using the transmitterelement, a first acoustic signal from the first set of signals, andcalculating a threshold distance as the effective spacing divided by thenumber of acoustic signals in the first set of signals. In certainembodiments, in response to determining that the SAS array has moved thethreshold distance, the processor may be configured for generating,using the transmitter element, a second acoustic signal from the firstset of signals, wherein the second acoustic signal is orthogonal to thefirst acoustic signal.

The systems and methods described herein include adding multipletransmitters and generating orthogonal pinging sequences configured toenhance the performance of a SAS system. In particular, the systems andmethods described herein include a SAS having a low-grating sidelobe (asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 8-9B), a SAS having a high coveragerate using multiple transmitters (as described with reference to FIG.10-11C), and an overpinging sequence for increasing the range of the SASsystem.

In general, grating sidelobes occur when active sonar elements are oneor more wavelengths apart. Grating sidelobes may not be fully suppressedwhen elements are more than a half wavelength apart. For most activesonar systems this spacing is impractical, since it would require anextremely high channel count and omni-directional elements. Instead,most systems use larger transducer elements with limited beam patterns.The resulting beam pattern of the sonar system is the product of thearray beam pattern (including grating lobes) and the beam pattern of theindividual elements. Since those elements output relatively little inthe direction in the direction of the grating lobes, this spacingpartially suppresses the lobes. According to one illustrativeembodiment, the transmitter and receiver elements have a relevantdimension (e.g, width) d, and assuming a phase center approximation (theellipsoidal travel path between transmitter and receiver is modeled as arange circle centered halfway between the transmitter and receiver), theclassical SAS array has “d/2” spacing, as shown in FIG. 9A.

According to the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 9B, one may arbitrarilyincrease the array sampling from d/2 to something higher (e.g., d/4), asshown. This spacing takes advantage of the fact that a syntheticaperture sonar system is in constant motion so that it can accumulatemany pings/phase centers so as to create a very high resolution image.The system then operates by transmitting orthogonal signals after a veryshort delay to create additional phase centers in between the originalphase centers so that they can be added in processing to create an arraywith d/2N sampling, where N>1. In effect, the SNR is no longer gratinglobe limited.

FIG. 8 depicts a process 800 for using a plurality of orthogonal signalsin a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) system, such as system 100, togenerate images, according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In particular, process 800 may be configured to useorthogonal signals to generate SAS beams having suppressed gratinglobes. Process 800 begins with providing a SAS array (such as array 112of FIG. 1) having a transmitting element and plurality of receivingelement (step 802). Such an array is depicted in FIGS. 9A and 9B. Incertain embodiments, each of the transmitting and receiving elements mayhave a first dimension, d. The dimension may include any suitabledimension including length, width and diameter. A user or CCU 160 maydetermine the number of orthogonal pings, N (step 804). As noted abovegenerally N>1. In certain embodiments, N=2, such that the sampling isabout d/4. Each ping p(i)={p1, p2 . . . , pn} has a duration of Tp. Incertain embodiments each ping may be orthogonal to one or more previouspings such that pings overlapping in time are orthogonal to each otherand non-orthogonal pings do not overlap with each other. The CCU 160 orthe transmitter controller 118 may calculate a first effective spacingD=d/2, representative of an effective distance between transmitter andreceiver elements during motion.

According to process 800, the transmitter controller 118 instructs thetransmitter 116 to set time to t0 and start transmitting the ping p(i),where i=1 (step 808). The transducer array 112 is moved along an axisparallel to that connecting the receiving elements (step 810). Incertain embodiments, it may be acceptable for the face of thetransmitting elements or projectors to not be coplanar to the face ofthe receivers. For example, streamlined vehicles include a polyurethanecoating continuous with the body form, however the actual transmittingelements may be embedded about 1-2 inches behind that polyurethanewindow. The CCU 160 determines if the transducer array 112 has moved adistance of D/N (step 812). If the transducer array 112 has moved adistance of D/N, then the CCU 160 determines if all the pings have beentransmitted in the current iteration (step 814). If all the pings havenot been transmitted then, the next ping (which is orthogonal to theprevious ping) is transmitted and the process is repeated from step 810.For example, if N=2, the transmitter width is d=0.1 m, the robot istranslating at 1 meter per second, the time period between the firstping in each cycle is 1 s, and the pulse length is 0.2 s, oneimplementation of the process 800 includes firing the first ping at timet=0. At time, t=0.025 s, the transducer 112 may have translated adistance of d/4. At time, t=0.025 s, the transducer 112 may beconfigured to fire the second orthogonal ping. Between 0.025 s and 0.2s, both the first ping and the orthogonal second ping are transmitting.Between 0 s and 0.025 s, only the first ping is transmitting, andbetween 0.2 s and 0.225 s, only the second orthogonal ping istransmitting.

Generally, and not to be bound by theory, the process allows fordelaying the transmission of the second signal until the vehicle hastranslated enough to create a second virtual array. As was shown inprocess 800, the delay may be related to vehicle speed and firing may beadjusted based on the measured motion while keeping the vehicle speedconstant (“slave to speed” configuration). In certain other embodiments,the delay may be fixed and the vehicle speed may be adjusted, includingperforming alongtrack compensation. In another configuration, thematched filter length may be adjusted slightly to compensate foralongtrack motion imperfections when defining phase centers (e.g. in theabove example transmitting a noise sequence, but then dropping the first0.001 s to 0.00001 s of the matched filter template to correctly placethe effective vehicle ping start position.

Consider an exemplary system with a 1 meter long broadside arrayconsisting of 10 centimeter elements and a 10 cm transmitter. Thevirtual array of phase centers is then 50 cm long with phase centersspaced 5 cm apart. In a typical SAS, the vehicle would transmit, move 50cm, and transmit again. For a variant of the present disclosureoperating with d/4 spacing, the vehicle would transmit, move 2.5 cm,transmit an orthogonal signal (so as not to jam the original signal),move an additional 47.5 cm, and then repeat. If the vehicle was movingat 1 m/s, the delay between signals would be 1/40 of a second, or 25 ms.If the transmit signal is longer than 25 ms then the two orthogonalsignals will overlap. In this case, the signals need to be designed suchthat when they are summed together they do not saturate the transmitter.If the goal is higher sampling that d/4, it may be necessary to sumtogether multiple signals.

This method is not only restricted to broadside synthetic aperturesonar. Broadside active phased arrays may use this technique to formvery short aperture synthesis to reduce sidelobes (i.e. a sidescan sonarwould fuse two pings). Real aperture and synthetic aperture forwardlooking and/or squinted sonars may use the same technique to increasetheir element count. The technique would work very well with circularSAS arrays.

Then the signal can be changed from ping to ping to further reducesidelobes after aperture synthesis and to suppress noise from theorthogonal signals. This is manifested in several ways, including.Changing a ping changes its autocorrelation function during aperturesynthesis; summing together different autocorrelation functions withdifferent sidelobe structures will reduce the relative magnitude ofthose sidelobes. Changing the ping changes the cross correlationfunction between the two subcomponent pings so that during aperturesynthesis, the noise is not locally a standing wave and insteaddestructively interferes.

They systems and methods described herein may be adapted as desired forboth sonar and radar systems. For example, sonar transducers may bereplaced with suitable radar transducers, and one or more components maybe modified, added to or removed from the systems described herein tooperate in a sonar and radar regime. In some embodiments, the systemsand methods may be configured to operate as both sonar and radardevices, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Incertain embodiments, when the systems and methods are configured forsonar imaging, the frequencies may be in both high and low frequencyranges in the range from 10 kHz to about 200 kHz. In certainembodiments, when the systems and methods are configured for radarimaging, the frequencies may be in the range from 100 MHz to about 30GHz. Generally, the systems and methods described herein may be appliedfor any frequency range, without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

High Coverage Rate SAS

In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a device for asynthetic aperture sonar with a real array with N elements of size dwhich combine to create a real array of length L. Because of the phasecenter approximation, the effective position of the elements is halfwaybetween the transmitter and receivers, making the effective array lengthL/2. This effective array will be referred to as a virtual array, asshown in FIGS. 11A-C. In some embodiments, if two vertically displacedtransmitters are used which transmit orthogonal signals, it may bepossible to create two vertically displaced virtual array and performinterferometry. One example of vertically displaced transmitters isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,159,387, entitled “Multi-transmitterInterferometry,” the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

In some embodiments, if M vertically displaced transmitters are used, itis possible to create M virtual arrays. In some embodiments, if twohorizontally separated transmitters spaced L apart are used, it ispossible to create two abutting virtual arrays giving the vehicle aneffective array length of L. One example of a multi-transmitter array isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,188 entitled “Synthetic ApertureSide-Looking Sonar Apparatus,” the contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety. In some instances, SAS may usetwo transmitters placed away from the receive array to achieve thiseffective array length. Doubling the array length is generally desirablesince it doubles the area coverage rate of a SAS. (Since the vehiclemoves one effective array length between pings, if the array lengthdoubles the range of the sonar doubles. If the robot maintains its pingrate, it must double its velocity in order to be in position for thesubsequent ping. In either case, the coverage rate doubles.)

Inventor has recognized that placing a pair of transmitters away fromthe array spaced L apart results in an effective sonar array length of L(which is greater than prior art systems that have an effective arraylength of L/2). The transmitters are typically placed away from thearray because if they are placed on either side on the receive arraythey will not be L apart, but L+D. This spacing results in virtualarrays which may have a missing element, resulting in grating sidelobes.

Inventor's method allows for a more flexible placing of transmitters,allowing for a larger area coverage rate in a smaller package. Themethod includes using multiple transmitters with orthogonal signalsfired non-synchronously and using delays and vehicle translation to formabutting virtual arrays. For a simple array of N elements of size d,with transmitters of size d on either side of the array, the forwardtransmitter will start transmitting first, followed by a delay as thevehicle moves d/2 forward, then the aft transmitter starts firing asshown in FIGS. 11A-C. If, for technical reasons, the transmitters have adifferent spacing, the timing may be adjusted accordingly.

In certain aspects, the systems and methods described herein includemethods for generating a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) signal. Themethods may include providing a sonar array having a receiver array,comprising a plurality of receiver elements arranged along a first axis,and including a first end and a second end. The sonar array may includefirst transmitter element and a second transmitter element. The firsttransmitter element, the second transmitter element and the plurality ofreceiver elements each may have a first width. The methods may includegenerating, using the second transmitter element, a first acousticsignal at a first position, and moving the sonar array to a secondposition along the first axis in a direction from the first end to thesecond end of the receiver array. The second position may be at adistance of about one-half the first width from the first position. Themethods may include generating, using the first transmitter element, asecond acoustic signal at the second position, such that the secondacoustic signal is orthogonal to the first acoustic signal.

In certain embodiments, the sonar array is mounted on a vehicle suchthat a length of the sonar array is less than a length of the vehicle,and the second position is offset from one-half the first width from thefirst position by less than the length of the vehicle. In otherembodiments, the sonar array is towed by a vehicle such that a length ofthe sonar array is greater than a length of the vehicle, and the secondposition is offset from one-half the first width from the first positionby less than the length of the sonar array. Generally, the secondposition may be located at any suitable location without departing fromthe scope of the present disclosure.

The sonar array may further comprise an additional transmitter, and themethod may further include generating a third acoustic signal at a thirdposition. In certain embodiments, the first transmitter element isdisposed proximate the first end of the receiver array, and the secondtransmitter element is disposed proximate the second end of the receiverarray.

In certain embodiments, at least one of the first and second acousticsignals has a frequency in range from about 100 Hz to about 100 kHz. Atleast one of the first and second acoustic signals may have a frequencyin range greater than about 100 kHz.

The sonar array may be disposed on at least one of an underwater vehicleor a surface vehicle for imaging an underwater terrain. In certainembodiments, the sonar array may be disposed on at least one of anaerial vehicle or a terrestrial vehicle for imaging a terrestrialterrain.

In another aspect, the systems and methods described herein includesystems for generating a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) signal. Thesystems may include a sonar array having a receiver array, comprising aplurality of receiver elements arranged along a first axis, andincluding a first end and a second end, a first transmitter elementdisposed proximate the first end of the receiver array, and a secondtransmitter element disposed proximate the second end of the receiverarray. The first transmitter element, the second transmitter element andthe plurality of receiver elements may each have a first width. Thesystems may include a processor for generating, using the secondtransmitter element, a first acoustic signal at a first position, movingthe sonar array to a second position along the first axis in a directionfrom the first end to the second end of the receiver array, wherein thesecond position is at a distance of about one-half the first width fromthe first position, and generating, using the first transmitter element,a second acoustic signal at the second position. The second acousticsignal may be orthogonal to the first acoustic signal. In certainembodiments, one or more transmitters for generating one or moreadditional acoustic signals.

In some embodiments, the method allows for a multitude of transmittersplaced along the vehicle. For instance, if four transmitters were usedspaced L apart (for a total length of 3L), the effective array length is2 L, and the area coverage rate of the system quadruples over a baselineSAS. In some embodiments, if M transmitters are used to lengthen thearray, the area coverage increases to M times the baseline coverage.Likewise, pairs (or larger sets) of vertically displaced transmittersmay be added to create a longer interferometric array. In the event thatthe separated along track transmitters cannot be placed in the samevertical position, resulting in virtual arrays that are parallel but notcollinear, grazing angle compensation can be used to correct for thevertical displacement. Changing the orthogonal signals used by thetransmitters from ping to ping may further reduce noise suppression,which may be desirable. In certain embodiments, it may be desirable tofire channels nearly simultaneously to lengthen the array. In suchembodiments, projectors may be positioned at 0 (e.g., the fore end ofthe receiver array) and L+w (e.g., the aft end of the receiver array),and other places at approximately (k+/−delta)* L where k is an integerand delta is some acceptable variation. Delta may correspond to a delaythat is less than the time before the bottom bounce.

FIG. 10 depicts a process 1000 for transmitting pulses from a SAS systemhaving such a multiple transmitter arrangement, according to anillustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 1000begins with proving a transducer array having a receiver array with aplurality of receiver elements and two transmitter elements (step 1002),each having a width, w. In certain embodiments, the transmittingelements are positioned on either side of the receiver array and alongthe axis of the receiver array, such as the array depicted in FIGS.11A-C. Transmitter T1 may be position in the aft position andtransmitter T2 may be positioned in the fore position such that thevehicle moves in a fore direction. The transmitter T2 may ping first(step 1004), after which the vehicle may move fore alongtrack and alongthe array axis connecting T1 and T2 (step 1006). The sonar system 100may determine if the sonar array has moved a distance w/2 (step 1008).Once the sonar system 100 has moved such a distance, the transmitter T1may ping, such that T1's ping is orthogonal to T2's previous ping (step1010). The vehicle may then move fore alongtrack (step 1012), and thesonar system 100 may once again query whether the distance traveled isequal to w/2 (step 1014). If such a distance has been traversed, theprocess 1000 may be repeated from step 1004 and T2 may ping again. Ifthe transmitters of width w were spaced further from the array then thedelay would need to be slightly greater.

They systems and methods described herein may be adapted as desired forboth sonar and radar systems, and accordingly for both syntheticaperture sonar (SAS) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Forexample, sonar transducers may be replaced with suitable radartransducers, and one or more components may be modified, added to orremoved from the systems described herein to operate in a sonar andradar regime. In some embodiments, the systems and methods may beconfigured to operate as both sonar and radar devices, without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In certain embodiments, whenthe systems and methods are configured for sonar imaging, thefrequencies may be in both high and low frequency ranges in the rangefrom 10 kHz to about 200 kHz. In certain embodiments, when the systemsand methods are configured for radar imaging, the frequencies may be inthe range from 100 MHz to about 30 GHz. Generally, the systems andmethods described herein may be applied for any frequency range, withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

Overpinging with Multiple SAS Transmitters

In water, the maximum range of a sonar is typically defined as thedistance sound can travel to a target and back before the nexttransmission. However, after the next transmission, the prior pingcontinues to propagate through the water. If it is possible to use aprior ping, then the range of a sonar and/or area coverage rate of asonar may be increased. If N total pings (N−1 prior pings) are fullyused, then the area coverage rate may be increased by a factor of N.

Unfortunately, distant echoes are weaker than closer ones (assumingconstant target strength). By using orthogonal signals, it may bepossible to improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR), but it will stillbe nearly impossible to receive while a transmitter is transmitting. Fora system with a classical range of R, this means it may be (almost)always impossible to observe echoes at ranges just past R.

Accordingly, in yet another aspect, the present disclosure relates to asolution to this SNR problem by adding multiple transmitters that arespaced and fired in a novel order so as provide multiple opportunitiesto recover data from the same range and phase center position and ensurethat at least one of those observations is not jammed. In someembodiments, N separated transmitters may be used to increase the rangeof a virtual array by N.

In one example, consider an array with length L and maximum classicalSAS range R at a velocity V (V*dt=L/2, R=c/2*dt=cL/4V) with a delaybetween pings of dt=L/2V. Assume that transmitters are (with zero beingon the bow and distance increasing moving aft) at x=0, x=0.25L, x=0.6L.For the second transmitter to form the same virtual array as the firstit must delay firing until the vehicle has moved sufficiently toposition it (corresponding to about 0.25 dt). Likewise, if the thirdtransmitter is used, it must be delayed 0.6 dt. Suppose ping 1 is formedusing transmitters 1 and 2, ping 2 is formed using transmitters 1 and 3,ping three is formed using transmitters 2 and 3, and then the sequenceis repeated. The firing sequence timing may then be:

${Transmitter}\mspace{14mu} 1{\text{:}\mspace{14mu}\begin{bmatrix}{0,} & {1,} & {{off},} & {3,} & {4,} & {{off},} & \ldots\end{bmatrix}}^{*}{dt}$${Transmitter}\mspace{14mu} 2{\text{:}\mspace{14mu}\begin{bmatrix}{0.25,} & {{off},} & {2.25,} & {3.25,} & {{off},} & {5.25,} & \ldots\end{bmatrix}}^{*}{dt}$${Transmitter}\mspace{14mu} 3{\text{:}\mspace{14mu}\begin{bmatrix}{{off},} & {1.6,} & {2.6,} & {{off},} & {4.6,} & {5.6,} & \ldots\end{bmatrix}}^{*}{dt}$

The combination of all ping times is therefore: [0, 0.25, 1, 1.6, 2.25,2.6, 3, 3.25, 4, 4.6, 5.25, 5.6, etc]*dt. Transmitter 1 and 2 each formvirtual arrays for ping position 1. Since jamming is caused by futurepings, virtual array 1 ping 1 is jammed at the following ranges: [0.25,1, 1.6, 2.25, 2.6, 3, 3.25, 4, 4.6, 5.25, 5.6, etc]*R. Virtual array 2ping 1 is jammed at the following ranges: ([1, 1.6, 2.25, 2.6, 3, 3.25,4, 4.6, 5.25, 5.6, etc]−0.25)*dt=[0.75, 1.35, 2, 2.35, 2.75, 3, 3.75,4.35, 5, 5.35, etc]*R.

Since virtual array 1 is jammed at 0.25 R, but virtual array 2 is not,virtual array 2's signal is used for those immediate ranges. Sincevirtual array 2 is jammed at 0.75 R but virtual array 1 is not, virtualarray 1's signal is used there. Since both arrays are jammed at 2R it isnot possible to get an unjammed observation of 2R, therefore that is thegreatest unjammed range. The ranges for which both arrays are jammed(the ranges at which the fused signal is jammed) are: [3,6,9,12 etc]*R.Likewise, the second ping uses virtual arrays formed by transmitters 1and 3, the third ping uses arrays 2 and 3, etc. Signals are interlacedin a similar matter for latter pings as well. Changing the signals fromping to ping further reduces noise suppression.

Although the transducers/projectors spacing was described above as being0, 0.25*L and 0.6*L, the system 100 may include any number of projectorspositioned at any suitable spacing and having any suitable firingsequences without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Generally, system 100 may combine overpinging with multiple alongtrackprojectors by either repeating the patter or by generating a newsequence, which may be random. As another example, system 100 mayinclude an array of five projectors positioned at 0, 0.25*L, 0.4142*L,0.6*L and 0.7321*L. Position 0.4142*L corresponds to [sqrt(2)−1]*L andposition 0.732*L corresponds to [sqrt(3)−1]*L. In such an example, thefiring sequences may be:

${Transmitter}\mspace{14mu} 1{\text{:}\mspace{14mu}\begin{bmatrix}{0,} & {1,} & {2,} & {3,} & {{off},} & {5\mspace{14mu} {{etc}.}}\end{bmatrix}}^{*}{dt}$${Transmitter}\mspace{14mu} 2{\text{:}\mspace{14mu}\begin{bmatrix}{0.25,} & {1.25,} & {2.25,} & {{off},} & {4.25,} & {5.25,} & {{etc}.}\end{bmatrix}}^{*}{dt}$${Transmitter}\mspace{14mu} 3{\text{:}\mspace{14mu}\begin{bmatrix}{0.4142,} & {1.4142,} & {{off},} & {3.4142,} & {4.4142,} & {5.4142,} & {{etc}.}\end{bmatrix}}^{*}{dt}$${Transmitter}\mspace{14mu} 4{\text{:}\mspace{14mu}\begin{bmatrix}{0.6,} & {{off},} & {2.6,} & {3.6,} & {4.6,} & {5.6,} & {{etc}.}\end{bmatrix}}^{*}{dt}$${Transmitter}\mspace{14mu} 5{\text{:}\mspace{14mu}\begin{bmatrix}{{off},} & {1.7321,} & {2.7321,} & {3.7321,} & {4.7321,} & {{off},} & {{etc}.}\end{bmatrix}}^{*}{dt}$

They systems and methods described herein may be adapted as desired forboth sonar and radar systems, and accordingly for both syntheticaperture sonar (SAS) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Forexample, sonar transducers may be replaced with suitable radartransducers, and one or more components may be modified, added to orremoved from the systems described herein to operate in a sonar andradar regime. In some embodiments, the systems and methods may beconfigured to operate as both sonar and radar devices, without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In certain embodiments, whenthe systems and methods are configured for sonar imaging, thefrequencies may be in both high and low frequency ranges in the rangefrom 10 kHz to about 200 kHz. In certain embodiments, when the systemsand methods are configured for radar imaging, the frequencies may be inthe range from 100 MHz to about 30 GHz. Generally, the systems andmethods described herein may be applied for any frequency range, withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

Holographic Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM)

Classical holographic navigation for AUVs, by requiring at least oneimage to be from a synthetic aperture, does not enable a true SLAM(simultaneous localization and mapping) solution. This is because when areal aperture image is correlated with a synthetic aperture image, theposition estimate update is an average one; the estimate can not beisolated to individual states.

In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method of removingthe above described requirement of needing at least one syntheticaperture image or quasi-hologram for holographic navigation. In someembodiments, region connecting observation positions are defined andused in such a way as to enable real aperture correlation, e.g., byforming “correlation tubes.” An idealized sonar is introduced andimproves the correlation performance inside the tubes. In someembodiments, a new method of operation allows a typical survey sonar touse correlation tubes to improve its navigation.

In certain aspects, the systems and methods described herein includemethods for determining a navigational position of a vehicle traversinga terrain. The methods may include receiving a first real aperture imageof a portion of the terrain being traversed by the vehicle. The realaperture image may include acoustic data within a first frequency rangeobtained from prior imaging of the portion of the terrain. The methodsinclude receiving a first position estimate representing a position fromwhich the first real aperture image was obtained, receiving a secondposition estimate representing a preliminary estimate of a currentposition of the vehicle, and determining a correlation axis connectingthe first position estimate and the second position estimate. Themethods may further include coherently correlating the second realaperture image with the first real aperture image, and updating thesecond position estimate based on the coherent correlation. The step ofgenerating the second real aperture image may include receiving areflected acoustic signal and steering the reflected acoustic signalalong the correlation axis.

In certain embodiments, the first position estimate is calculated usingat least one of global positioning system (GPS) estimation, inertialguidance systems, compass and accelerometer. The first real apertureimage may be generated by a first vehicle in a first position and thesecond real aperture image may be generated by the first vehicle in asecond position. Alternatively, the first real aperture image may begenerated by a first vehicle in a first position and the second realaperture image may be generated by a second vehicle in a secondposition.

In certain embodiments, the first and second frequency ranges include aminimum frequency greater than 100 kHz. Generally, the first and secondfrequency ranges may be from about 100 Hz to about 100 kHz.

In certain embodiments, the terrain includes an underwater terrain. Thevehicle may include at least one of an underwater vehicle or a surfacevehicle for traversing the underwater terrain. The vehicle includes atleast one of an aerial vehicle or a terrestrial vehicle for traversing aterrestrial or extra terrestrial terrain. Alternatively, the vehicle mayinclude a robotic vehicle for traversing an indoor terrain.

In another aspect, the systems and methods described herein includesystems for determining a navigational position of a vehicle traversinga terrain. The systems may include a map store, for receiving a firstreal aperture image of a portion of the terrain being traversed by thevehicle, the real aperture image including acoustic data within a firstfrequency range obtained from prior imaging of the portion of theterrain. The systems may include a transducer array, for generating asecond real aperture image of the portion of the terrain by insonifyingthe portion of the terrain with an acoustic signal within a secondfrequency range directed along the correlation axis. The secondfrequency range may at least partially overlap with the first frequencyrange. The systems may further include a signal correlator forcoherently correlating the second real aperture image with the firstreal aperture image and a central control unit for receiving a firstposition estimate representing a position from which the first realaperture image was obtained, and receiving a second position estimaterepresenting a preliminary estimate of a current position of thevehicle. The central control unit may be configured for determining acorrelation axis connecting the first position estimate and the secondposition estimate, and updating the second position estimate based onthe coherent correlation.

In another aspect, the systems and methods described herein includemethods for determining a navigational position of a vehicle traversinga terrain. The methods may include receiving a sonar image of a portionof the terrain being traversed by the vehicle, the sonar image includingacoustic data within a first frequency range obtained from prior imagingof the portion of the terrain. The methods may further include receivinga first position estimate representing a position from which the firstsonar image was obtained, receiving a second position estimaterepresenting a preliminary estimate of a current position of thevehicle, and determining a correlation axis connecting the firstposition estimate and the second position estimate. The methods mayinclude generating a synthetic aperture image of the portion of theterrain by insonifying the portion of the terrain with an acousticsignal within a second frequency range directed along the correlationaxis, wherein the second frequency range at least partially overlapswith the first frequency range. The methods may include coherentlycorrelating the synthetic aperture image with the sonar image, andupdating the second position estimate based on the coherent correlation.In certain embodiments, methods include receiving second sound speedestimate corresponding to the second position and updating the secondsound speed estimate based on the coherent correlation.

As noted earlier, generally, holographic navigation works because ahologram which is defined over a range of angles contains all possibleimages within that set of angles (subject to a few constraints such asfrequency limitations, occlusion, etc). When a real aperture image iscorrelated against a synthetic aperture image, the correlation processtransparently identifies the position in the quasi-hologram where thereal aperture image originated. The correlation works because althoughthe real aperture sonar sees each object from one vantage point, andsees a set of objects from a set of different vantage points, thequasi-hologram is a multi-aspect record. When two real aperture imagesare compared, only targets along a line connecting the two sonars can becorrelated, previously assumed to be impossible. Since the percentage offeatures that are collinear with the two sonars is exceptionally small,and since the correlation result from the area off of that line isnoise, the resulting signal to noise ratio for the correlation is nearzero.

In some embodiments, the above described method solves this problem bycombining a preliminary navigation estimate, a real aperture array, and“correlation tubes.” In some embodiments, if the AUV has a reasonablyaccurate estimate of its position when it made a prior observation, itcan define a reasonably accurate vector connecting the two positions.Using a real aperture array, the sonar can steer the signals received ateither position along the direction of that vector. By forming bothbeams down the correct correlation direction, the signal to noise ratioimproves considerably.

In some embodiments, the real aperture sonars are long enough that bothare in the nearfield and it is possible to form a beam without spuriousinformation (there is a temptation to call it “noise free”, but itwould, of course, still be subject to environmental noise sources). Forexample, consider two parallel arrays of length L separated by adistance D along the broadside vector of the arrays. If the resolutionof the arrays at the separation distance is less than the length of thearrays then the arrays have sufficient resolution to “block out” energyfrom areas with non-overlapping aspects. (Mathematically, this is verysimilar to a nearfield constraint). Assuming a wavelength λ and making asmall angle assumption, the angular resolution of the arrays is ΔΘ=λ/L,and the across range resolution is Δx=rΔΘ=rλ/L. Since we want Δx<L orrλ/L<L, the technique performs best when r<L²/λ. The nonlinearrelationship between r and L means that the maximum range increasesquickly as the array length grows. For most existing synthetic aperturesonars, with L≈0.50 m and λ≈0.01 m, the maximum range is approximately25 m. In some embodiments, with L=2.5 m and 2=0.0083 m the maximum rangeis approximately 753 m, or three times the intended survey range of 250m. More generally, given a beam width φ the range constraint becomesr<cos²φL²/λ. According to an illustrative embodiment, a system designedaccording to the beam width constraint can use correlation tubes off ofbroadside without performance degradation.

FIG. 12 depicts a process for simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM) using real aperture sonar images, according to an illustrativeembodiment of the present disclosure. The sonar system 100 on a vehiclemay receive a first real aperture acoustic data of a portion of theterrain being traversed by the vehicle (step 1202). The sonar system 100(e.g., CCU 160) may receive a first position estimate representing aposition from which the first real aperture image was obtained (step1204). In some instances, the position estimate and the first data (orimage) may have been obtained a priori (either on the same mission or ona prior mission) by the same vehicle as it traverses the terrain. Inother instances, the position estimate and the first data (or image) mayhave been obtained by another vehicle (at the same time or differenttime) traversing the terrain. Both vehicles may be traversing theterrain simultaneously and communicating with each other. The vehiclereceiving the images may be moved to a current position (step 1206). Atthe current position, the vehicle may receive a second position estimaterepresenting the current position (step 1208). The sonar system 100 maythen determine the correlation axis (or correlation tube) connecting thefirst position estimate and the second position estimate (step 1210).The correlation may determine the direction of beamforming for thevehicle in the current position. The sonar system 100 may insonify theterrain and generate a second real aperture image of the terrain fromthe current position (step 1212). The beamformer 134 of the sonar system100 may steer the receiving signal such that the received acousticsignal is directed towards the terrain and along the correlation axis ortube (step 1212), thereby allowing the vehicle at the current positionto view the terrain along the same axis as the direction along which thefirst real aperture image was obtained.

Most synthetic aperture sonars are used to perform surveys. Most surveysfollow a lawnmower pattern. Although it is typical when surveying usinga lawnmower pattern to overlap adjacent passes (to ensure fullcoverage), that overlap is not suitable for holographic navigation(since it has the wrong spectral orientation). Assuming the sonar has amaximum useful range R, swaths are typically spaced 2R apart, and theportion of the imagery from an adjacent survey leg that is orientedcorrectly for holographic navigation exists at the ranges between 2R and3R. The sonar design of the systems herein is advantageous as it enablesclean correlation at triple the baseline operating range.

In some embodiments, there may be a plurality of ways to navigaterelative to distant sonar imagery (without looping around to look atit). One such way may include a SAS, such as sonar system 100 andslowing the vehicle down to ⅓ speed, which will then triple the range,enabling a holographic navigation fix. Generally, the vehicle may beslowed down any amount suitable to increase the range by a desirableamount. Another way is to include a dual frequency system, one frequencycan map continuously while another alternates between a normal ping rate(to map) and a ⅓ ping rate (to observe distant regions). A third way maybe to use sequences of orthogonal signals. If the distant echoes aresufficiently orthogonal to the closer echoes they can be used forcorrelation and a navigation update. Unlike imaging at long range, it isnot necessarily to use signals taken at all ranges (including portionswhere the SNR is poor due to other transmissions). It is generallysufficient to use only range regions with “good enough” SNR. Whencorrelating relative to a prior pass it is possible to steer beamsthrough many different prior robot positions, producing many differentmeasurements. Used in post-processing this can result in an accuratemap, although, in some embodiments, a limited set of beams may beprocessed in real time.

They systems and methods described herein may be adapted as desired forboth sonar and radar systems, and accordingly for both syntheticaperture sonar (SAS) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Forexample, sonar transducers may be replaced with suitable radartransducers, and one or more components may be modified, added to orremoved from the systems described herein to operate in a sonar andradar regime. In some embodiments, the systems and methods may beconfigured to operate as both sonar and radar devices, without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In certain embodiments, whenthe systems and methods are configured for sonar imaging, thefrequencies may be in both high and low frequency ranges in the rangefrom 10 kHz to about 200 kHz. In certain embodiments, when the systemsand methods are configured for radar imaging, the frequencies may be inthe range from 100 MHz to about 30 GHz. Generally, the systems andmethods described herein may be applied for any frequency range, withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

Bistatic and Monostatic Gapfiling for SAS

Synthetic aperture sonars perform poorly in the near “nadir” regime(directly under the vehicle). This is because the partial derivative ofrange with respect to horizontal distance may be approximately zerodirectly beneath the sonar.

There are two traditional solutions to the aforementioned problem. Thefirst is to use a real aperture sonar to image directly under thevehicle. However, as the survey sonar range increases it is generallynecessary to survey from a higher altitude, causing the resolution of areal aperture gapfiller generally to drop for a given aperture. This isdue to two effects: decreased spatial resolution due to increased range,and needing to use lower frequencies/longer wavelengths due to range andabsorption. Even though the aperture can be increased, at realisticaltitudes for a long range survey sonar, it is impossible to getresolutions that approach SAS resolutions.

Applicants solve this problem by using a plurality of sonar vehiclesthat are positioned so as to be able to hear each other's transmissionsand image bistatically. The bistatic image has SAS level resolutionunder either vehicle, and poor resolution in the gaps between thevehicles. By fusing SAS imagery and bistatic SAS imagery it is possibleto have a very high resolution map.

In certain embodiments, a long range vehicle may be used in conjunctionwith a smaller vehicle. In such embodiments, the long range vehicle usedfor imaging, may include a very large gap beneath it. A second, smallervehicle may then be used specifically to image the large vehicle's gap.The second vehicle may fly the same track line, but below the largevehicle.

In certain other embodiments, a vehicle may be used at higher altitudeand create gap beneath the vehicle that is comparable to the range ofthe sonar. In such embodiments, one or more adjacent mission legs arethen flown such that subsequent legs fill the gap of prior legs withminimal waste. This design assumes a steeper grazing angle thantraditional SAS, but would be considered more typical of syntheticaperture radar (SAR). From a grazing angle compensation/holographicnavigation perspective, described above, the reduced range of grazingangles may be beneficial.

Passive Relative Localization

When multiple vehicles perform a survey it is necessary to overlap theirsurvey areas so as to account for inertial navigation errors that accrueover the mission. (This assumes an unknown area without a predeployedbeacon network such as long baseline or ultrashort baseline.) Since theinertial navigation error grows with time, there can be substantialdrift over a long mission. This large drift requires a large overlap,substantially decreasing the net area coverage rate of the sonar. If,instead, vehicles can fly in tight formation then that overlap can bereduced, and gross errors only occur at the edge of the areas imaged bythe formation.

One way for the vehicles to maintain their formation is by using beaconsystems. Using an onboard ultrashort baseline navigation system, it ispossible to measure the range and bearing to another vehicle. However,this requires an additional system.

Instead, Inventor proposes a reduction in which the vehicle (which isassumed to have a synthetic aperture sonar array and system 100)passively listens for the transmissions from other vehicles using itsreal aperture sonar. Using the received signal it may measure thebearing to the other vehicle (but not the range). Measuring rangepassively is difficult since most SAS's are “slaved to speed” meaningthat the pings are timed based on the perceived position of the vehicle.Schemes may be used to passively estimate range based on time ofarrival, but the random component of SAS ping timing makes thisundesirable.

The methods and systems described herein measure range by passivelydithering the vehicles relative to one another and fusing the data in anavigation filter. For instance, consider two vehicles flying inparallel with slowly drifting inertial navigation systems. Assume thatthey each have a base survey velocity of 2 m/s. Assume that for 5minutes vehicle #1 flies at 2.05 m/s and vehicle #2 flies at 1.95 m/s,resulting in a 30 m change in position. If the vehicles are 300 m apart,this corresponds to a 5.6 degree change in position; if they are 310 mapart, this may correspond to an 5.8 degree change. A 2.5 m array with awavelength of 0.008 m has an angular resolution of 0.18 degrees, makinga 10 m range variation observable.

In an alternative instantiation of methods and systems described herein,the vehicle passively listens to a timed pinger on other vehicles toestimate range. A filter onboard the vehicle estimates clock drift.Although dithering is not necessary if listening to a passive pingerdithering does make clock drift more observable.

Pressure and Substance Compensation

In another aspect, the systems and methods described herein relate to adevice that protects an electrical or electronic component from externalpressure or exposure to substances, e.g., an oil compensated battery. Insome embodiments, the device includes a housing made of both electricalconductors and one or more electrical insulators surrounds one or moreelectrical components. This structure may be designed to supportexternal hydrostatic pressure or other forces which would otherwiseadversely affect the integrity or operation of the contained electricalcomponent. In some embodiments, the device may be sealed against theintrusion of liquids or gases by conventional methods possibly includingbut not limited to o-rings, gaskets, glues, or mechanical interferencepress fits between parts (e.g., see details in FIGS. 13A and 13B below).There may also be electrical contact features, whether separatecomponents such as springs or wires, or integral mechanical features ofthe housing components themselves, which make electrical contact betweenthe terminals of the contained electrical component and the electricallyconductive portions of the housing.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show an exemplary embodiment of such a device 1300.This embodiment of the device forms a housing to resist externalhydrostatic pressure applied to a cylindrical electrical fuse or anyother electrical component 1302. The housing is constructed of a centralsection 1304 made of a rigid insulating material, two end caps 1306 aand 1306 b (collectively, “1306”) made of an electrically conductivemetal, two o-ring seals 1310, and one or more electrically conductivesprings 1308. The housing is assembled as shown in FIG. 13 so that theend caps 1306 and springs 1308 form conductive paths to each terminal ofthe contained fuse or other electrical component. Any other conductivematerial may be used in addition to or in the alternative with spring1308, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Forexample, such conductive material may include wire meshes, conductiveliquid, or conductive foam. The housing geometry is constructed so thatthe exterior dimensions of the housing are equivalent to the standarddimensions of a cylindrical fuse or other electrical component largerthan the contained fuse or other electrical component. Thedevice/housing may be configured to house one or more than oneelectrical component. In certain embodiments a plurality of electricalcomponents may be placed in parallel or in series within the housing.

The systems and methods described herein may be realized as a softwarecomponent operating on a conventional data processing system such as aUnix system. In that embodiment, these mechanisms can be implemented asa C language computer program, or a computer program written in any highlevel language including Matlab, C++, Fortran, Java or BASIC.Additionally, in an embodiment where microcontrollers or DSPs areemployed, the mapping mechanism can be realized as a computer programwritten in microcode or written in a high level language and compileddown to microcode that can be executed on the platform employed. Thedevelopment of such data processing systems is known to those of skillin the art, and such techniques are set forth in Digital SignalProcessing Applications with the TMS320 Family, Volumes I, II, and III,Texas Instruments (1990). Additionally, general techniques for highlevel programming are known, and set forth in, for example, Stephen G.Kochan, Programming in C, Hayden Publishing (1983). It is noted thatDSPs are particularly suited for implementing signal processingfunctions, including preprocessing functions such as image enhancementthrough adjustments in contrast, edge definition and brightness.Developing code for the DSP and microcontroller systems follows fromprinciples well known in the art. The system also provides and enablesas is known to those of skill in the art, object oriented frameworks aregenerally understood as a set of classes that embody a design forsolutions to a family of related problems. See The C++ ProgrammingLanguage, 2nd Ed., Stroustrup Addision-Wesley. Accordingly, a frameworkfor mapping and filtering may be created that provides a prefabricatedstructure, or template, of a working mapping and filtering program.

Variations, modifications, and other implementations of what isdescribed may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe systems and methods described herein. For example, though thesystems and methods are described in the context of underwater mappingand navigation using sonar signals, the systems and methods may beequally applicable for mapping and navigating in aerial or other land orspace-based terrains and using other imaging technologies include radar,optical signals, and any acoustic or electromagnetic signal. Moreover,any of the method and system features described above or incorporated byreference may be combined with any other suitable method or systemfeature disclosed herein or incorporated by reference, and is within thescope of the contemplated systems and methods. The systems and methodsmay be embodied in other specific forms without departing from thespirit or essential characteristics thereof. The foregoing embodimentsare therefore to be considered in all respects illustrative, rather thanlimiting of the systems and methods described herein.

1. A method of generating a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) signal,comprising: moving a sonar array at a first velocity, the sonar arrayhaving at least three transmitters and a plurality of receivers, thearray having a first length, wherein the first transmitter is positionedat a first fraction of the length along the first length, the secondtransmitter is positioned at a second fraction of the length along thefirst length, and the third transmitter is positioned at a thirdfraction of the length along the first length, and wherein the directionof motion is along a direction from the third transmitter towards thefirst transmitter; generating a first ping using the first and secondtransmitter, including: generating using the first transmitter, a firstacoustic signal at a first position, the first position being a wholenumber multiple of the first length added to the first fraction, andgenerating using the second transmitter, a second acoustic signal at asecond position, wherein the second position being a whole numbermultiple of the first length added to the second fraction; generating asecond ping using the first and the third transmitter, including:generating using the first transmitter, a third acoustic signal at athird position, the third position being a whole number multiple of thefirst length added to the first fraction, and generating using the thirdtransmitter, a fourth acoustic signal at a fourth position, wherein thefourth position being a whole number multiple of the first length addedto the third fraction; and generating a third ping using the second andthe third transmitter, including: generating using the secondtransmitter, a fifth acoustic signal at a fifth position, wherein thefifth position being a whole number multiple of the first length addedto the second fraction, and generating using the third transmitter, asixth acoustic signal at a sixth position, wherein the sixth positionbeing a whole number multiple of the first length added to the thirdfraction; wherein a time taken for the sonar array to move between thefirst and second ping, and between the second and third ping, andbetween the third and first ping is equal to half the first lengthdivided by the first velocity.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theplurality of transmitters includes four or more transmitters.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first, second and thirdping has a frequency in a range from about 1 kHz to about 100 kHz. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first, second andthird ping has a frequency in a range greater than about 100 kHz.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the sonar array is disposed on at least oneof an underwater vehicle or a surface vehicle for imaging an underwaterterrain.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sonar array is disposedon at least one of an aerial vehicle or a terrestrial vehicle forimaging a terrestrial terrain.